北京

Back to reality so now i have time to write here!

As I said before my dad and Pari were in China last week. We did the highlights tour of Beijing for 2 days then they came down to Shanghai for 3 more days and they got to experience the wonders of Shanghai (ok ok you caught me, I may have taken to a few places that my college students wallet couldn’t afford.. ha ha kidding!) Dad and Pari played like champs with the jet lag and everything. The first day in Beijing we went to the Great Wall and Summer Palace of the emperor. The Great Wall was absolutely spectacular, it seems to go on forever and its in the Dragon Mountains which were a beautiful back drop for one the of the wonders of the world. Being on the wall was one of those moments of awe, like when you see the Rocky Mountains for the first time in a long time, when couldn't believe what you see is real, its really puts life into perspective. Men would devote their whole lives to this wall. Whether it was constructing it (when men died making the wall they were just built into it) or serving as a guard (they were not allowed to leave their whole lives if they were stationed on the wall) it took strength and devotion. While my Dad was all about speed walking to see how far he could get (no MBT’s though so he wasn’t getting his core work out), Pari and I took a more leisurely stroll of the wall. Carved next to the wall, on the side of hill are the characters for Mao Zedong, in order to honor their leader. It was cool to see two of the biggest symbols of China next to each other. After that we were going to see Tiananmen Square but the National People's Congress was in session we were weren't able to see it that day. Instead we took a trip back in time to the Summer Palace for the emperor. The Summer Palace is pretty self-explanatory, it served at the emperor’s summerhouse, he was able to conduct work and enjoy leisure here, although his wife seemed to partake in more leisure with the eunuch, heyo. Outside the palace are two huge statues of lions, one on the east representing man and on the west representing the female. They are placed according to Fengshui 风水, contrary to popular belief this is an ancient Chinese practice (no its not just a popular trend in home decorating it actually has some meaning) that translates to wind and water, which basically means that everything has to certain place on earth and the wind and the water are everything on earth. Right inside the front gate was the statue of ***. This is basically the god and he created two children, the dragon and the phoenix, representing man and woman. While women were supposed to be submissive and phoenix like one of the empresses that lived these was nicknamed "the dragon". She was not only awful but she also she controlled her husband so she was basically in charge. She was originally one of the king’s concubines (mistresses) and she produced a son for him, which gave her head honcho position. In the palace there were many rooms for the concubines and Eunuchs. A Eunuch was literally ripped of his manhood, but the queen had a “close relationship” with one of the Eunuchs so it’s suspected than he got to keep his!
After we saw the summer palace we went and toured around a smaller part of the city that wasn't accessible by car. Our tour guide was absolutely precious; she was 22 and had taught herself English, straight impressive. When we asked her about her family she explained to us her real mom and dad lived on the countryside and they basically traded her for her current mom and dad’s son because of the one child policy they wanted a boy. It was a very bizarre explanation and she said so matter of fact. That’s the sort of situation that in the United States people go to therapy for years to get over but Youyou (our tour guide) just chalked it up to the way things are. The One Child Policy is still heavily debated in China; it only applies to the Han Chinese and is most strict in the cities. Our main tour guide, Eric, was explaining to us that they are starting to get ride of it in more rural towns which I guess is a small step in the right direction.
That night I celebrated my birthday early with a wonderful cake and such nice cards from my family (thank you all again so much!). The next morning we woke up to snow in Beijing! Although it was cold, the beauty of the snow in the city was worth it. We first went to see the Temple of Heaven. So if I would have walked around his by myself I would have missed out on how is represented in the number of steps, the shape of the structure and the small details on the hand railings. It was very interesting how much the number 9 and 12 plays into everything. All the ramps had 9 steps. This temple was build very representative of the zodiac signs. Most or you have probably read your horoscope, I mean how else would be know when we’re most likely to fall in love, do well on an exam or in the case of Geneva Glen’s trained astrologists, know when its best to ask the girl/guy you’ve been crushing on for her/his aim name, In Asia its not only zodiac signs that are used to predict things, but they also use the year you were born (for example all of us 1989-ers are snakes) and blood type.
Like I said before, it was snowing which created a problem for walking around the Temple of Heaven and the Forbidden City due to the fact the ground was made of marble, it was like we were ice skating. Upon the exit from the temple we were thrown into the hotspot for retired people in Beijing. As we walked down this corridor we say people playing what looked like hackisack, singing karaoke, and dancing. Since it was snowing they were all squished into the corridor but on mast days they would be outside on the grass. Our tour guide, Eric, explained to us that they have to buy a pass to go there but this is where the retired people hang out all day. After that we went to the Forbidden City. Think of the pictures you have seen of Tiananmen Square with the picture of Mao on the wall, ya that’s the outside of this massive palace for the emperor. We kept going through one door only to find another, even bigger court yard ahead of us. The snow topped the whole experience off; it blanketed this ancient site in such elegance. Again we were fighting for our lives at ever step on the slippery marble but you know sometimes you have to go through hard times to get to the good ones ☺!
Not only did the snow cause an issue walking but also the airport and the snow didn’t seem to get along too well either. Sunday, when flew to Shanghai, the Beijing airport had to cancel 160 flights and delayed 140 flights. Not to worry though we got to enjoy 4 hours of angry people whose flying plans were changed and Kit-Kats!
On Monday I showed Dad and Pari Peoples Square where my dad found his calling in the “haibao”, the symbol for Expo2010. He also was able to practice the Chinese he knew, which consisted of saying no thank you but that was a little to advanced so he just stuck to the simple American answer of shaking his head. That night they took my and my friends out to dinner and a restaurant that not only had amazing food but also over looked the river and we got to go out on the roof to take the classic postcard pictures of Shanghai. The next day Dad and Pari came to where I live and study, and successfully made it, like I’ve said before most taxi drivers don’t know our street so for us it’s even hard sometimes! I took them to try fried dumplings that I think completed my dad! Its so funny how in China you can go out to a great, expensive meal but the best one you have is the $1 basket of dumplings.
It was fun being the tour guide on this trip; I had to put my Shanghai skills to use! Hopefully by the time Mom and Dana come out ill be a pro!
Soon up will be spring break in Singaporeeee or as us Chinese call it xinjaipo!

Xoxo
Aryn