Wow it's Mao!

(Cady)

Hey!

So today it was a bit easier to rise at our normal hour. We stayed in last night making PB&Js and eating gummy worms, and watching CNN. Actually tonight it's pretty much the same thing, except it's Invincible we're watching and ice cream from McDonald's that we hunted down. Oh, we also painted Nick's toenails blue, but shh don't tell him that I told you. Also, in recent news, we've all emailed our host sisters/brothers, since we got the list of names from Viz yesterday. So far only Em has gotten a reply from her sister, Penny, who is very outgoing and pretty, according to Ella. We're all a little nervous and really excited to make contact with the kids we're going to be staying with for the next five weeks. We get to Hangzhou around two in the afternoon on Wednesday after 16 hours on a train. Hopefully we can clean up a little bit for our arrival....

Anyways, today was pretty eventful. Eventful and COLD. We started of with Tiananmen Square- it really is huge. The square fits half a million people, and it's amazing to imagine what it looks like all filled up. We asked our guide, in as safe a manner as we could, where the tanks were in 1989. He ended up going off on a short rant about how the Americans and Chinese have very different viewpoints, and that just because we may have heard one thing about what happened in Tiananmen Square, doesn't necessarily mean it's the truth. He had an interesting point, though we usually take a lot of what he says with a grain of salt. One point raised later was that the Chinese know that communism is not ideal, but neither is democracy, and to replace one imperfect system with another only brings instability. Well, it's interesting to think about at least. But, back to the square. We were actually really lucky- Chairman Mao's mausoleum was opened to the public a few days ago for the first time in years. Yes, it's actually where they keep Mao's preserved body. The security around the hall is pretty intense. There are guards and police men, some with pistols, and three whole groups of army officers in camouflage uniforms doing martial arts drills outside. We had to give our bags to Da Li (our guide) to keep outside for us, and go through a metal detector before entering the mausoleum. It's amazing to see the respect the Chinese still have for Mao. You have to take off your hat to enter the hall and move through in two lines. Although didn't get to see the body for long, but we were kind of excited and didn't know what to expect. His case was surrounded by another case which was heavily guarded, and we had to keep moving because there were a lot of people coming through. There was a yellow light shining over the body, which was covered halfway up with the Chinese flag. He looked sallow- like a wax statue of a sleeping man. It was strange though, because the face is so famous. We spent so much time this year learning about the effects that man had on China and its people. Afterwards, all we could really say was wow, I can't believe we just saw Mao himself. Afterwards we walked around the square a bit, saw the huge Mao portrait that hangs on the first gate of the Forbidden City. The whole area is so famous, with so much history, it was just kind of incredible to realize that we're finally in Beijing. Not to mention, we're so close to Hangzhou.

By the time we got into the Forbidden City, the cold had begun to set in. It was about -2 degrees Celsius, and none of us were dressed very appropriately. The area itself is beautiful- the buildings are so ornate. Since a lot of them are restored the colors pop right out at you. Bright red columns and all sorts of golds, blues, and yellows decorate the outsides. Back in the day, only the emperor and high ranking officials could live inside the Forbidden City. We saw the Emperor's bedroom, assorted displays of weapons and armor, the Emperor's chair, and all sorts of other exciting things. We were slowly dying of frostbite, which took away from the beauty just a tiny bit. I really did enjoy the buildings, even though my fingers and toes were literally about to fall off. The garden in the back, where the Emperor's concubines stayed, was particularly nice. It was full of gnarled old trees and potted rocks (yes, like plants are potted...) that were supposedly shaped like animals. Oh, also, the Forbidden City has 9,999 rooms according to Da Li. That's a LOT of rooms.

Next, lunch. Much better than yesterday's. The room was almost completely yellow because way back when only the Emperor could use the color. When the last Dynasty ended, all of the eunuchs (sterile men) who served the Emperor either killed themselves or opened restaurants where they served the people as if they were serving the Emperor. Apparently one of those is where we ate, though there are no longer any eunuchs working there. We were able to thaw out, which was wonderful, and naturally the food was good. After, we were all a bit more happy and willing to walk back to the van. Emily and I kept warm by weaving in and out of the group and Drew did sprints to and from the van. We made a stop at the nine dragon wall, which is given to an emperor who is able to keep peace for over a certain amount of time. We also stopped at another shrine known as the little western paradise. Since we had been so cold in the Forbidden City, we were skeptical about seeing the Summer Palace in the afternoon, especially since Da Li had informed us that it is four times as big as the Forbidden City. The palace turned out to be a great deal of fun, mostly because we're all pretty good at amusing each other. The buildings themselves are gorgeous- bright and colorful. The Summer Palace actually holds a Guinness book of world records record for longest sheltered walkway in the world. There were more potted rocks, bronze statues of dragons, cranes, and an animal with a dragon's head, scaley body, ox feet, horses tail, and eagle's beak, because apparently those are all of the strongest features of each animal. The other thing the Summer Palace has is a lot of stairs. You all know how much we like stairs. Actually we had a good time with it- running up, running down, and even running sideways. I think it's safe to say we worked off a bit of our lunch. Even Terry did well with the stairs, and we ended up with a fantastic view of the lake. The lake that the Summer palace is built around is man made and based on West Lake in Hangzhou because the Emperor liked it so much when he visited. Let's see, what else? The only copper pavilion in China is built way up high at the summer palace- very heavy. Also, once you climb nearer to the top, you can go through some rock tunnels that are very Lord of the Rings. So, of course, we had to hum the theme song as we went through. All in all, summer palace was a good time- beautiful and we were all a bit goofy. OK.

So, on the way back we got a glimpse of the bird's nest, which has the Olympic track in it, and the swimming arena, which looks like it's made out of bubble wrap. Beijing clearly has Olympic fever, though it's not as prevalent as I thought it would be. Back to the hotel, nap time for an hour, off to dinner. YUM. Best dishes were the eggplant and the pork which resembled our mushi pork. After, we walked back through the "snack market," and Em and I had more of the sugar coated strawberries that we love. Except that this time she got strawberries and kiwi, and I got strawberries and bananas. Anything sugar-coated is good. Back in the hotel is when the snacking and movie watching began, and is still going on. We have been eating plenty of dabaitus, our Chinese class will be delighted (or jealous) to know. Then we found ice cream. of course. And now here we are. This is very long now, Pirates of the Caribbean number 2 is on, and I am eating peanut butter out of the jar.

Bye everyone!
Cady