Jingshan Park, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square

Here's another post that I actually wrote a few days ago but am posting now because of the internet issues we've been having...

January 16, 2007

I haven’t written in a few days, and that’s because we’ve been so busy. We really didn’t have much time to recover from jetlag, because as soon as we all arrived we had a meeting and were doled out orientation schedules. Orientation included a tour of Beida led by several students of the university. Beida is a beautiful campus, with a great deal of distinctly Chinese architecture. I’ll post a few pictures that I’ve taken here, with more to come soon. There is a lake on which people can skate in the winter (something my friends and I are planning to do in the near future), and which has a small island. There are some great paths for walking/running around the lake. So far I’ve run the paths fairly regularly, but my mouth tends to taste like an exhaust pipe when I’m done, so I think I’m going to join the gym. One of the many things I’ve noticed since I’ve been here is the fact that the people work out at the gym or jog around campus in what look like their normal, everyday clothes. There is a multitude of ping-pong tables in the gym here, and I thought it was funny when one of the people at the gym informed us that we would need a special, more expensive membership to use them.

This is Shaoyuan 5, where I'm living:

Here are some pictures from around campus:

The night of orientation we gathered at a campus café to mingle with some Beida students. I always love meeting new people and telling them about myself and also hearing about their lives, so it was altogether a good time. We all participated in a language partner-finding activity in which we wrote down something about ourselves on a slip of paper and placed it in a box with papers from the American students, and the Chinese did the same with their own box. Once all the papers were gathered, we switched boxes and drew slips of paper. It was interesting to compare what the Chinese students had written compared to what we wrote. Most of us had written on our papers whatever first came to mind, so there were some pretty creative ones. I wrote “Boston Red Sox,” while other people wrote things like “James Bond” or “California Dreaming,” to name a few. Needless to say, no two slips were the same. Not so for the Chinese slips, where pretty much everyone listed “studying,” “table tennis”, “jogging,” or some form of “hanging out with friends.” Nevertheless, I met a lot of really nice Beida students whom I admire for putting up with my substandard Chinese skills. I was amazed at how great their English was, especially considering the fact that most of them had never been to an English-speaking country before. When I asked them about it, most said they perfected their English by watching Friends! A lot of them really think that’s how most Americans live. I became fast friends with a girl whose English name is Cherry (I loved hearing the various English names the students had chosen – everything from Bill to Tiffany to Cheryl to Cherry!), and my friends and I already have a shopping date with her on Friday (apparently she is an expert shopper). It was a great night, with the only problem happening about halfway through the evening when a fight broke out between some students (not in our group nor the group of Beida students with whom we were mixing) at a nearby table. It was a brutal fight, with a chair being broken over a guy at one point. It caught us all off guard, especially the Chinese students, who looked like they were about to cry and were quick to insist that fights like that hardly ever happen here.

The next day we went on a whirlwind tour of three of Beijing’s most famous sights: Jingshan Park, the Forbidden City, and Tiananmen Square. It was amazing, although if I have the chance I’ll probably go back to each of those places again to explore and give myself a more thorough tour. I’m the type of person who prefers being alone or with a select few others when I tour museums or landmarks – I think it’s because I like to experience things like that on a deeper level, which is hard when you’re surrounded by 30 other American students in China for the first time.

Jingshan Park is awesome. It has a lot of interesting gardens and horticulture, which is probably amazing in the summer. There are also a variety of pavilions and pagodas that dot the hills that make up the park. They are all very intricately decorated, and most of them have scenic views of the nearby Forbidden City and surrounding city of Beijing. Some of the best views of the city are from Jingshan Park. One of the things that struck me the moment I left the airport and drove through Beijing is the multitude of construction projects. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Standing at the Wanchun Pavilion, which is the park’s highest point, I couldn’t even count the number of cranes in the distance, there were so many. I can see how some people don’t recognize the cityscape when they come back after a few years away from the city. There were a lot of Beijing natives strolling around Jingshan Park, and many were taking part in everything from singing groups to aerobic exercises to kazoo choruses. When we entered the park, the kazoo chorus started playing “Jingle Bells,” then “Oh Susanna!” It was really something else. Some of us participated in an aerobics class for a few minutes. The people who ran it were absolutely thrilled that we joined them for a few songs.

Here is the kazoo chorus:

Here's one of the park's pavilions:

Here is a view of the Forbidden City from the Wanchun Pavilion (note the smog):

Lunch was at a little restaurant in one of Beijing’s old sections. It was delicious, although I must admit that I had no idea exactly what some of the food was. I’m sure it was probably better that way, especially after seeing some of the various types of meat hanging outside! One thing that I find kind of funny about Beijing so far is the profusion of tacky Christmas decorations, especially the image of Santa Claus. He even appeared on the front window of the restaurant at which we dined!

The Forbidden City was extremely impressive. It housed 24 emperors and was used through two dynasties for 500 years. It spans 200 acres, and consists mainly of halls, courtyards, and other smaller buildings. All of them are decorated with gold on the outside, and inside were endless amounts of imperial thrones, screens, and various pieces of artwork. It was definitely a “feast for the eyes,” as some like to say.

My favorite stop on the whirlwind tour was Tiananmen Square. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to stay very long, but some of my friends and I are planning on going back there sometime at around 5am to see the daily flag-raising ceremony. Apparently it’s a very moving ceremony for most Chinese. Anyway, it was so exciting to finally be in Tiananmen Square. It is a huge square, with a lot to explore. As I exited the Forbidden City and entered the square, I couldn’t help but think back to everything I had read about it, from the millions of young people (Mao’s Red Guard) who flocked to the square to see Mao, who was supposed to take China to heights not seen before, to millions of members of a future generation who descended on the square to issue a call for democracy and then be so brutally silenced. I must admit, it was a little chilling knowing what had taken place there not too long ago. It was interesting (if not a little disheartening) to see absolutely no acknowledgement of the massacre. Most people here, even some of the city’s most educated, still have no idea what really occurred. However, one of our tour guides, a Beida student, had no problem talking about it, and was clearly incensed about what had occurred. He also absolutely despises Mao. We’re not really sure why he has these views, especially when so many of his classmates remain oblivious, but we think it might have something to do with the fact that some of his ancestors were members of the imperial ruling class that existed before the Communists took over, and his family may have suffered during Mao’s Cultural Revolution. At any rate, it was amazing to finally stand in Tiananmen Square, and I can’t wait to go back and explore it further.

It was simply incredible to finally see all of the places I had read so much about. It was fascinating to observe the juxtaposition between the old scenes of Beijing’s past and the contemporary, sky-scraper lined and construction crane-filled skyline beyond. It is like nothing else I have ever seen before.

I’ll post more later. It was fun describing the places I visited around Beijing, but I’m really looking forward to providing you with observations and insights about my daily life so far in Beijing, and what I have discovered while living as an American student in China.