Before I begin about Tuesday’s adventure, I would like to take a moment to vent about the general attitudes of the parents (including my very own mom and dad). As a student on SAS, I had traveled 9 other countries before China. That being said, an awareness formed in which I had come to terms with the fact that that other countries do things differently than the United States… this doesn’t make one country’s execution better or worse, they are just different. I eventually (and luckily it was early on in the day) came to the realization that the parents weren’t trying to get on my nerves, nor were they intentionally being culturally insensitive, but rather they didn’t know any better. For me, this awareness blossomed after traveling several countries, thus I needed to be patient with my parents in allowing this transformation to occur.
Tuesday
April 3rd
We were off bright and early to conquer the capital of
China, Beijing! Beijing is home to 20 million people and the famous sites in
Beijing include: Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, and finally the Great
Wall of China. Additionally, the 2008 summer Olympics took place in Beijing.
Let me make a side note that unlike normal circumstances it was the parents
complaining about the 8:00 AM departure time, not the kids… well
would you look at that, SAS really does change a person ;)
Our first stop on our tour de Beijing was Tiananmen Square. Tiananmen
Square is the largest square in the world… to give
you an idea of how big it is… it is about equal to putting 24
soccer fields together! The square is best known for the following:
- Originally the entrance to the imperial palace in the Ming and Qing dynasties
- In 1949, founding leader Mao Zedong declared the People’s Republic of China
- Demonstrations by college aged students in 1989 for political reform and freedom of the press
The cool part about seeing Tiananmen Square is that I felt
my history books coming to life… over the
years I have learned about the square never once dreaming that I would one day
walk around, yet here I was in China at Tiananmen Square!
Aside from the Klein family photo opts, the entire group
(about 85 of us) stopped in the middle of the square to take a group picture… boy do “the Americans” know how to cause a scene! I felt
like we were stars… everyone
wanted to take the picture of the BIG (not only in numbers, but probably in
pounds as well) American group! We even had a few that wanted to get in with
the group… a lot of
my friends get annoyed when people want to take pictures of the big bad
Americans, but I on the other hand embrace it… honestly, I come storming into all these countries,
having no problem taking photos of their culture, it is the least I can do to
allow them to snap a photo of me.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a copy of the group photo… but here is proof that the Klein’s did in fact make it to the Square.
Additionally, check out the size of this TV in the middle of
the Square… puts the
Dallas Cowboys Stadium’s Big
Screen to SHAME!
The Square is situated directly in front of the Forbidden
City… not surprisingly;
this was our next stop on the adventure. The Forbidden City was home to the
Emperor, back in the day, one had to be invited to enter the city and once they
entered they were never allowed to leave! Ahhh a bit creepy!
While walking through the Forbidden City, we learned about
the superstitions of the Chinese culture… I always thought my dad was obsessive with his lucky
numbers, but it seems the Chinese are just as obsessed… perhaps this is where Andy
learned it? I’ll provide
a few of the noteworthy numbers and their meanings:
- The number 8 is seen as generating wealth. An example of the number 8 in action includes the 2008 Summer Olympics --- Do you think it was a coincidence that the games began on August 8, 2008 at 8:08 PM (well that is a whole bunch of CrAzY 8s!)
- The number 3 is considered a lucky number in the Chinese culture as well… any other number in which 3 is a factor is also considered a lucky number
As we walked through the Forbidden City, Lisa, our tour
guide, pointed to the roofs of the buildings to show us the little dragons
sitting on top… they are
always placed in an odd number arrangement since this is considered to be a
lucky number
Another aspect of Chinese culture that we learned about was
how to identify the difference between a male and female lion. I shall explain
and provide pictures below just incase you ever encounter this question on a
game show! Remember, if this contributes to ANY success in your future; please
give me a portion of your winnings ;)
A boy lion is always on the left side when walking out of
the building and under his left paw is a ball that symbolizes fortunate
On the right side is always the girl lion and under her right paw is a cub! An easy way to remember this is that Girls are always RIGHT so she is on the RIGHT hand side…
A few of my friends were on another SAS trip and it just so
happened that we ran into them in the Forbidden City… let me
just tell you that Jilly was beside herself, “What are the chances that you
would run into your SAS friends here?” Oooo the magic
of Semester at Sea, poor Jilly doesn’t understand that this happens in every country, even
if you don’t travel with SAS people you still run into them ;)
After a significant amount of time in the Forbidden City, we
were back on the bus and off to our next adventure… visiting
a home of local people in Beijing followed by the Rickshaw ride. The tour of
the home is not worth “blogging home about” as honestly it felt like A HUGE TOURIST TRAP! We all
walked away just confused why we spent our time in this home. The rickshaw ride
on the other hand was a lot of fun…
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| Almost BIRTHDAY King Andy rides in his Chariot… I mean rickshaw |
After our Rickshaw adventure we went to a restaurant for
lunch followed by touring the Temple of Heaven… another one of those “must see sights
in Beijing” You will
notice that at this point in my pictures Andy is MIA as he felt it was
imperative that he rest up for the next day (his birthday!)
While at the Temple of Heaven we had our very own Tai Chi lesson… Tai Chi is a type of internal martial arts that is used for self-defense and also provides health benefits. Obviously this was quite the sight in terms of watching CK and Jilly perform a task that yearns for coordination…
After our work-out, we were back on the bus and headed to
the Silk Factory. Mom and I enjoyed learning the silk making process, however
we didn’t care for
this stop, as it was certainly one of those tourist traps where they were pouncing
on every opportunity to make you purchase something! Oy vey!
At least Patty had fun playing on the silk ;)
Once leaving the silk factory, it was time to impress Jilly with my developing bargaining skills at the Pearl Market. The Pearl Market has just about anything and everything you can imagine… loaded with fake purses, backpacks, clothing, jewelry, electronics, and more… you name it, they sold it! As my mom and I navigated from one vendor to the next, I showed her the ropes on bargaining… I am still shocked that a vendor was trying to charge me $30 for a China magnet and mini flag… like a champion, I was able to hassle them down to a mere $2! Let me just tell you, Jilly was more than impressed ;)
Look at our precious Panda hats that I was able to bargain to $1 each…
If you
would like lessons on how to haggle please contact me… remember, your first lesson will be bargaining the
price of the class ;)
After the bargaining extravaganza it was time for an
authentic Chinese dinner of Peking Duck… if you know me by now, you can only imagine how I
felt about this meal... let’s just say I greatly enjoyed my white rice!
Wednesday
April 4th (ANDY’S BIRTHDAY)
Andy was in for a treat for his birthday, for he got to be
at The Great Wall of China. Had we told him 6 months prior that this would be
where he would be spending his birthday, I am fairly certain he would have
laughed right in our faces. I guess that’s just the way life really is… you never know what’s going to hit you next! (Dam I am getting profound!)
I cannot even begin to describe to you the beauty of this
Wonder of the World (The Great Wall of China) it is truly breathtaking... Our
tour guide suggested that everyone take the Gondola ride up to walk around the
wall and then if we were adventuresome to take the toboggan down… although
we were all a bit nervous about what this toboggan ride entailed, we chose to
seize the day and make our way to the toboggan! I would say that we walked
about 3 miles of the wall (and that’s being pretty darn generous in my estimate), yet
that is such a miniscule portion as the wall actually goes on for a good 5,500
miles!
Here is a picture of the wall, I know this picture is
fantastic, but it still doesn’t do justice for the sight one sees when viewing the wall… it
literally goes on and on and on:
The time flew by and before we knew it, we had to pick up
the pace and make it to the toboggan ride… I have left you in the dark until this point as I am
sure many are wondering what on EARTH is a toboggan? The dictionary definition
of a toboggan is: “a long narrow sled used for the sport of coasting downhill over
snow or ice. It typically is made of a lightweight board that is curved upward
and backward at the front”… it
reminded all of us of the bob sledding event that occurs in the Olympics… the only difference is that you
ride the toboggan alone, not with a team! The line for the toboggan was out the
wazoo, but you are only on the Great Wall of China once (well, I actually hope
to go again, so maybe that’s not
entirely true), nevertheless, we chose to wait it out. I am happy to report
that the ride was not only worth the wait, but also was a long ride--- we were
totally expecting a 5 second ride, but it was a good 6-8 minutes ;)
Here is a picture I snapped of another SAS family that was
ahead of us in line:
I will forever remember our time at the Great Wall of China
on THE Andrew Louis Klein’s birthday
as it was truly one of those once in a lifetime days…the weather, the sight and most of
all the travel companions were more than perfect ;)
In the afternoon we visited the Summer Palace, which was a
beautiful site, but not worth “blogging
home about.” Let’s be serious, I am trying to
finish up this blog and if the location didn’t move me, I ain’t writing about it… (a clear sign that CK is advancing from a novice
blogger to the intermediate stage)
The night on the other hand was fantastic… first we drove by the 2008
Olympic Stadium known as the Birds Nest. Some interesting facts
about the stadium:
- The building took about one and a half years to build (construction began in 2006)
- The Stadium has 80,000 seats, but the night of the Olympics it had about 91,000 people inside the building!
- There were 500,000 volunteers to help with the Olympics
After our drive by, we were off to an Acrobat show. I know
what you are thinking, isn’t that a
bit juvenile, how cool can that actually be? Well, let me just say it was
OUTSTANDING… aside
from the sports at the 2008 Olympic games, the Chinese were praised for their
opening and closing ceremonies for the dancers were so on beat, not missing a
single move--- consider this when thinking about the acrobat show… when I say talented people I
truly mean it! Below are a few pictures from the show, clearly not even going
to do it justice.
Additionally, I found a few
youtube videos to give you an idea of the various acts:
- Motor Cycle Act- they end up getting 7 motorcyclist into this cage!
- A good overview of the events at the show
Andy’s birthday
ended with some good ol’ American
eating and then a surprise birthday cake in the hotel room… smile birthday boy ;)
And in the blink of an eye, we were onto Shanghai… it was hard to believe how quickly our time passed in Beijing. I’ll wait until my next post on Shanghai to describe our general sentiments about Beijing compared to Shanghai (keeping you on the edge of your seat, I know).
Our guide Lisa concluded our tour with a moving comment that as a world traveler I found to be so special, “Once you make friends in another country, remember it is like having family in another country, you are always welcome to come back and visit my country.” I hope to spread a similar message when visitors come to the United States.
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| Klein family posing with our Beijing tour guide Lisa |
One final “flushing” idea to leave my fans with… and that
would be the toilets in China. This is one area I have lacked on reporting on
in the various ports, but needs special attention in the Asian countries as
their idea of a toilet is a bit different than a Western restroom…
Your thoughts? If you know Andy, you can only imagine how he
reacted to the bathroom situation! Oy vey! Oy vey! Oy Vey!
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