beijing vol. II

Ok, I'm sorry for the long delay between this and the previous installment. Our days have been really busy, but the weekend is here and maybe I can wrap this series up pretty quickly. This could be the most action packed blog entry in the series, so buckle up.

Heavens-To-Betsy

Ok so our next day in Beijing was full to bursting. We got up very early in the morning and headed over to the Temple of Heaven. Probably the most remarkable thing about the Temple was the contrast that was so evident between Christianity and other religions. It still amazes me that the God of the universe is a God who is truly inimitable. (You like that word? I just found it.) But it truly is amazing how all of our vain attempts add not a baby's breath of power or majesty to Him. We can only hope to, in our best moments, reflect some small glimmer of what is His by nature. On a different note, the other thing that struck me about the Temple of Heaven is all the elderly people who gather there every morning to do exercises. China has a rapidly aging society and I sometimes wonder if people my age don't look with horror upon the masses of elderly people doing all they can to extend their life. I don't mean to sound morbid, but if you think America's social security issue is concerning, just wait a decade and look at China.
Wall Flowers

So our next adventure was the Great Wall. But we weren't just going to tease the beast. We were going to tame the beast. We were going to spend the night on the Great Wall. Getting to the Great Wall was surprisingly easy, and other than an annoying driver who insisted on taking us back that evening, our adventure was smooth sailing. Climbing onto the wall was quite a hike, although nothing to write home about. (perhaps blog about) The section of the wall we chose is called Mutianyu. It is a wonderfully restored section of the wall surrounded by forested mountains. The views were amazing. Our night on the wall was pretty uneventful. Some of us (not me) had less than stellar sleeping bags so they (not me) got very cold at night. Before dawn, Finn and I climbed to the very last (and highest) guard tower and took some photos. The fog was heavy but it gave the wall a mysteriousness that, while terrible for photos, felt appropriate. We also sang on the wall and Jessica puked on the wall. We all express our feelings about the wall in our own way. Ok I'll stop here and tell you about coming down from the wall and the madness that ensued in the next blog entry.
Don't be greedy. If you are, then you may find yourself alone at the base of Mutianyu at 5:00 with an empty minivan and shattered dreams.

John

P.S. So there is something I didn't include in this post. The reason I didn't include it was because I couldn't remember when it happened. But after much thought I think I pinned down the day, and of my own volition, I decided to edit this entry so as to maintain the chronological integrity of my blog.

On our way to the Great Wall we were getting subway tickets. While taking a head count we had and oh-poor-stupid-foreigner encounter with a random Chinese guy who was watching us buy passes. He decided he would do us a favor by pushing the cancel button on the touchscreen. What this boy didn't know was that his hand was being tracked from the moment it started toward the screen. He soon became yet another victim of Quick-Draw Sides. Lesson learned? I sure hope so.

beijing vol. I

Well we are back from our October holiday adventure. This year our destinations were Beijing and Qingdao. (Last year we visited Yichang and Xi'an.) We began our journey Friday night on a train to Beijing, and our spirits were high as we had never visited the capital city before. We arrived at about 1:00 in the afternoon on Saturday and went straight to work. I will describe to you now the events of our October Holiday and each one will have its own heading! This will happen over several blog entries.

Sneaky Pizza

We checked into our hostel and decided that we would split into two groups (there were six of us). The first group (Megan, Trent & Angelyn) was going to try to get us bus tickets to Qingdao, and the rest of us (Me, Jessica & Finn) were going to get a snack before dinner. This all started out until innocently until Jessica spotted a Papa John's across the street from the hostel. Let it be known that this is my official assigning of blame to Jessica. I thought about it all week and I've decided that it works out best for everyone involved if Jessica assumes 100% of the blame. I know that she would agree. So as I was saying Finn and I begrudgingly agreed to go eat pizza and we all made a pact not to tell the others the bad thing we had done. (When you live in China, excluding someone from pizza is the closest thing to a mortal sin.) The pact didn't last. Deductive reasoning shed light on our dark secrets and the others soon found out.

My Father Owns a Pipe Factory

So we all met back up at silk street. Silk street is the bargaining Mecca of China. Its not really a street, but more of a giant mall full of little shops that will quote you outrageous prices for very inexpensive items. It's a blast. We all found something we wanted and most of us bought it. We bought dresses for all of my nieces. We also bargained for pearls that we really didn't want (and didn't buy) and found out that you can scrape pearls with a knife to see make sure they aren't made of plastic.

Chairman Mao

Our last stop on Saturday night was Tiananmen Square, the famed site of the event which shall not be named of 1989. Of course there is much more history to this square but the events of that year loom like a shadow. We took some really nice night photos of the square and the giant Mao portrait that hangs there. It really is a beautiful spot at night. We were all extremely tired at the end of the day so we didn't waste much time once we returned to the hostel. We just went to bed.

The Moral

So I will try to give you something I learned from each set of events. From this set of events I learned perhaps two truths. 1. Never eat pizza without everyone in the group. 2. If you're bargaining for more than one item, only bargain for one item until you feel like you have the lowest possible price for one. Then you can get a discount on that price if you buy more than one. So I guess those don't carry any great moral value (except maybe the first one). Stay tuned for beijing vol. II.

John