We started this morning off by heading to the Summer Palace. This was where the Emperor spent the summer months to get away from the Forbidden City. It was only one-fourth land, the rest was a giant freshwater lake. Among the many buildings, there was the world’s longest corridor, which ran along the lake shore. The corridor is also the world’s largest art museum, as each beam had three pieces of hand painted art on it (one on each side, and one of the bottom). We also learned that freshwater pearls were harvested from the lake to provide pearl powder to the Empress to use as makeup. We also saw a giant marble boat that was made to signify the Emperor’s power and his long lasting reign. Unfortunately for him, his dynasty was overthrown a mere 100 years later – so much for having a marble boat!
After leaving the Summer Palace we headed to a nearby pearl shop that gave demonstrations on how freshwaters pearls were harvested. Amie picked one of the oysters in the tank, and they showed us how the oyster was opened, and the pearls inside. Our oyster was only 4 years old, so the pearls were very small. However, we did get to keep three of the twenty or so pearls in the oyster.
Next we took a rickshaw tour of one of the two remaining Hutongs in Beijing. The original Mongolian word Hutong meant ‘water well’, and now means ‘narrow streets’. The Hutongs are the old city dwellings with very narrow streets (most can’t even fit a car down them). We learned about how you can tell the societal status of the residents by looking at their doors. For instance, the greater the number of steps (which are always odd numbered) and the wider or taller the entrance, the higher the class of the resident.
At the conclusion of our rickshaw tour, we had lunch in one of the resident’s house’s. The food was very good, and we (through our guide) were able to talk a little bit with the wife. She has lived in the Hutongs for thirty years! She also gave us a tour of her house, which lasted about 2 minutes. There were six rooms, the largest of which about eight feet by eight feet. The hallway connecting all the rooms was outdoors. The bedroom was the largest room, the others were half to two-thirds the size of the bedroom. She also had a kitchen, bathroom, living room, storage room, and a dining room. We met her two pets, a bird and a turtle. The turtle was thirty years old, and the bird could say ‘Ni hao’ – which is Mandarin for ‘Hello’. Seeing what little they had made us feel very fortunate for all that we have. Despite their ‘lack of having’ when compared to western society, they were extremely happy.
Our day concluded with a short (one hour and thirty minute) flight to Xi’an. Despite the short length, we were still served dinner! Dinner was rice with chicken or beef. We also were given a roll, strawberry jelly, and apple chips for dessert. Once we landed we met our guide for Xi’an – Tracy. During the nearly hour ride from the airport to the hotel, she gave us a brief overview of the history of Xi’an, including its significance as the capital of China for nearly half of the dynasties. Xi’an is considered a small city – its population is 8 million! We checked into our hotel, a very nice modern hotel near the drum and bell towers. We were upgraded to a executive suite – which means our room is huge and we have a separate living room area.
Tomorrow we’re off to see the Terracotta Warriors.
0 comments:
Post a Comment