Soaking It In (5/31)

The view from my window

T H E   M O R N I N G   I   woke to was far smoggier than the day before had been, but thankfully my head was clearer. I was able to catch up on some journaling and reflection as the yellowed, opaque sky slowly brightened, and broke my fast with a plate scattered with fixings from our hotel's expansive breakfast selection before hitting the road for the day. Our first stop of the day: the Great Wall!

Mike reluctantly cedes control to Dr. Yi

Our tourguide, Mike, told us a bit about the Great Wall as we began to move out of the city. According to him, it took 1 million people 10 years to build the Wall in the first unified Ming dynasty, 50% of whom died. We'd be seeing the Badaling section of the Great Wall, the closest to the city and also the most popular.

First sights of the mountains

Then, Mike shocked us all by bassing the baton to Dr. Yi, who spoke for most of our commute. She lectured about distributive justice and social mobility in China versus the States, with some time spent on China's socioeconomic evolution. Then, it was back to Mike, who riffed on "The Party" and the economics of living in Beijing-- how difficult it was to lease an apartment from the government, how party members got all sorts of breaks, and how the sexes fare notably differently in the social structure. It all sounded foreign at the time, but it's interesting to compare it to the socioeconomic realities of living here in the States.

The Great Wall of China!

M Y   S P I R I T S   S O A R E D   at the first sight of the mountains, despite the hazy lack of clear visibility, and the emergence of the wall that snaked across them only added to my energy. I had a blast at the Great Wall, to say the least. The visit was far more than a photo op or tourist trap for me; I somehow ended up having an extremely profound experience and working through some personal things as I hiked the wall, much like my time on Mount Geumjeong in Korea. I even ended up getting a bit lost on the way back down and stumbling across a Temple of the Horse-- and I was born in the Year of the Horse!--and had a great meditation session there.

Here are some pictures from the adventure:

The view from the wall

The steep, worn stairs in one of the guard towers

The view from the top!

I made some friends!

Entrance to the Temple of the Horse

The altar at the Temple of the Horse

O U R   N E X T   S T O P   was an absurd amalgamation of restaurant, factory, and shopping center that was suspiciously swarmed with buses and other foreigners-- clearly a popular place to drop off your tourists! I was beginning to see a trend in the places we were taken to and the types of food they served, and it came up in conversation that our tour guides got kickbacks for taking us to certain tourist trap-y places-- that explained it! It was a bit frustrating to be visiting touristy places instead of "legitimate" ones, but I was in China and really didn't have much room to complain. I tried to be grateful through the kitschy giftshop vibes. Our conversation ended up spinning off into governmental property ownership versus private enterprise and the volatility of Chinese politics before our tour guide apologetically ended it, explaining that he could face jail time for talking about such things.

The view from outside the market

Where the wares were made?

Our group enjoys a meal upstairs

T H E   M I N G   T O M B S   comprise another historic attraction in northern Beijing near the Great Wall. They were also our next destination after our politically-tinged lunch. Containing a total of 13 tombs throughout a massive Feng Sui-inspired facility, the Ming Tombs represent more history than either Mike or Dr. Yi could fill our heads with during our time there. My notes on the stop are sparse, but here are some pictures!

The entrance to the seven-mile Spirit Way that 

A turtle guardian supports an inscribed monolith inside the entrance

A map of the Tombs

A stroll along the Spirit Way

O U R   N E X T   D E S T I N A T I O N   brought us out of the Ming Dynasty we'd been learning about all morning and back into modernity. On our way back into town, we stopped by the Olympic Park! It was cool to see the "Bird's Nest" and "Water Cube," both pictured below. Both are astounding architectural feats, to be sure. And although they have plenty of history themselves, they were a far cry from the ancient places we'd been before. It's incredible that such different landmarks are so relatively close to each other. I guess that's China for ya!

A view of the Bird's Nest

And the Water Cube

O U R   L A S T   S T O P   of the day was at a theatre in downtown Beijing for a Peking Opera, a traditional Chinese fusion of history and musical theatre. Filled with caricatured historical figures, ornate costumes, and traditional music and song, it was like a double shot of Chinese cultural concentrate. Although there were subtitles, they were rather spotty, leaving me lost the entire time, which was fine; I was just along for the ride. Here are some final shots from our second crazy day in China!

A shot of the theatre before the show-- dinner and a show for some!

A glimpse of the action in all its glory! This character had an impossibly high voice

And a glimpse of Tienamen Square as we shot past it after dark!