Summer Palace

06/22

Well it's the last week in Beijing and I'm catching up on the last few things that I want to see before heading home.  Today we spent the whole day at the Summer Palace way out on the outskirts of Beijing.  The Summer Palace was originally built in the 1100's for the emperor to visit during the summer's when life became to stressful in the Forbidden Palace.  As you can see from the pictures the grounds were huge and included the main palace as well as a gigantic lake, island included.

Back Home

Well I'm finally back home and although I was sad to leave all my friends and Beijing behind, I must say it feels great to be back in the states!

I'd like to thank all of the University of Arkansas Career Services team members that helped make this trip even possible!  Without them I would have never been able to put a trip like this together.  It was an incredible experience that I'll never forget!

The last week in Beijing was a blur of catching up on the last few things I'd missed as well as farewell dinners and goodbye's.  The day I was set to leave Beijing I had a few extra hours in the morning to check out the 798 Art Zone.  The art zone had all kinds of modern Chinese art that expressed a lot of the opinions and emotions of the younger Chinese population.  As you can see from the pictures below, there is definitely a difference in attitude toward government from the younger population compared to the older generations.  Surprise surprise.

After leaving Beijing and arriving in Seattle I discovered that I had a 10 hour layover until my next flight so after clearing customs and rechecking my bag I decided to head out and explore the city and have dinner with a relocated Fayetteville friend on the pier.  Eating my first meal back in the states on the pier at Ivar's seafood restaurant was a great ending to a great trip!

That's all now for now.  I'll keep posting more pictures in the future as I get everything together from the trip.  Time for some Chipotle and sleep!

7 Days In Beijing

06/20/13

Well I’m down to my last week in Beijing.  When I first got here I made a list of everything that I wanted to see and I have visited each place I’ve market it off the list.  Yesterday, I decided to go over the list and see how much I actually had left.  Surely there can’t be that much right?  Nope.  Not even close.

Inspired by my lack of effort, I decided to knock two of the main attractions off the list yesterday:  the Lama Temple and the Temple of Heaven.

First up, Lama Temple (a.k.a. Yonghe Temple).  This is a Buddhist temple in the middle of Beijing and one of the largest Buddhist temples in the world from what the signs said.  The grounds are plastered with vibrant colors along the sides of each building and wonderful smells of incense are all around.  Getting out of the smell of car exhaust and local… “perfumes” was very welcomed.  There were five main buildings on the grounds, each with their own Buddha.

Next, was the Temple of Heaven.  This was one the most cultural experiences I’ve had so far in Beijing.  Walking along the grounds we could see groups of elders playing cards as well as a group singing a Chinese hymn that could be heard throughout the temple grounds.  The actual temple sits atop a hill in the center of the park that has one of the best views of Beijing in the city.  It’s incredible to look around and see all that has been built up around this 400 year old temple!

Well, that’s all for now.  I’ll keep posting more and more stuff as the week progresses.  Tonight I’m going to an entrepreneurship seminar where I hope to meet some entrepreneurs from around the city.  Should be interesting to hear their stories about starting businesses in China!

The Great Wall

06/17/13

This past weekend we went up to The Great Wall of China to walk along the wall and watch the sunrise over the mountains.  Overall I’d say this was one of the most memorable experiences I’ve ever had traveling.  The part of the wall we went to has rarely been traveled or repaired for hundreds of years.  After walking around the wall all day we made our way to the bottom of the mountains where we had an incredible BBQ dinner of squid, beef and homemade bread as well as a traditional Chinese show.  Like I said, an incredible experience, but the pictures do most of the talking……

06/13/13

It’s been a busy couple weeks of work and travel!  Last week was my first full week of work here in China.  The joys of Chinese rush hour commuting is an experience that will remind me to never take commuting in Fayetteville for granted ever again. 

Each of my co-workers has been very helpful and many of them speak better English than I could ever hope to.  Last week we went to an incredible Roasted Chicken lunch where every part of the chicken was available to eat.  Including the head!

Since the beginning of this week was the Dragon Boat Festival I decided to take the train down to Shanghai to see the city and have a change of pace from Beijing.  Riding on the bullet train to Shanghai led to some incredible views of the rural Chinese countryside as well as the massive ghost cities abandoned half way through construction.

Unlike Beijing, Shanghai is much smaller landmass wise as it is set up much like Manhattan.  This leads to a very centralized downtown with massive skyscrapers and a picturesque skyline.  It’s also a lot like Manhattan because EVERYTHING is very expensive.  We walked down the East Nanjing Rd. which is a very famous shopping area.  Most of the store names I’d never heard of but I’m told they’re popular all over the world.

We also toured the Yuyuan Gardens in the middle of the city.  The gardens were constructed in the 1500’s and have gone through numerous renovations throughout the years creating a wonderful garden space in the middle of Shanghai.  We spent some time walking around and then spent some time at a teahouse situated in the middle of a pond in the gardens.

Overall Shanghai was a great modern city to visit.  More to come next week!

Fresh Prince of Beijing

05/31

The first full day of exploring the city ended up being an incredible day and took me throughout many of the historical parts of the city as well as being guided to some local cuisine that ended up being one of the best meals I’ve ever had in my entire life….

We started out jumping on the Beijing subway at about 9AM.  As Americans we think 9AM is well into the workday and there should be little traffic.  We found out the instant we walked into the subway station that’s not the case.  After purchasing our tickets and finding the correct train, we walked to the platform with the rest of the population of Beijing and I stood in the back of the line figuring we’d have to wait a couple trains before being able to get on.  Not only was I wrong, but I was about to witness one, if not all of the laws of physics get shattered as every single person on the platform squeezed onto the train.

After a comfortable ride we arrived at our first stop, Tiananmen Square.  Many if not all of you have heard about the protests of 1989 when a single man defied the whole Chinese government by standing in front of army tanks as they made their way through the square.  The picture of the one-man protest I think is one of the most powerful images I’ve ever seen.

At the northern most area of Tiananmen Square is the Forbidden Palace, which was home to numerous Chinese emperors throughout the centuries.  It also sports 30,000 bedrooms in case they had in-laws in for the weekend.

Walking over the moat that surrounds the palace and in through the main gate I was overwhelmed by the sheer size and quality of the construction.  Before reaching the actual palace rooms where the emperor would live, there were three main gates we had to go through that were each about a quarter-mile wide and 100 yards thick made of rock and cement.

Continuing through the three gates you finally walk into the actual entrance of the palace area which is a gigantic courtyard surrounded by ancient buildings.  Through the middle of the courtyard lies a path made from jade called the Emperors Path.  Only the emperor in power was ever allowed to walk along the path while everyone else was required to stand along side while the emperor made his way from building to building.

Building after building goes by as we walked throughout the palace where we saw the throne room, his changing room, sleeping room, and my personal favorite “doing nothing” room.

After walking over a mile through the palace we finally approach the North Entrance and the gardens just inside the gate.  Many of the trees are well over 300 years old and create a really awesome area for the emperor to come hang out in.  Also in the garden is a gigantic rock (shown in the pictures) that was hauled, as one giant stone, from southern China all the way to the palace so the emperor could look and play on it.

Finally after a full day in the palace we decided to walk over and try a "hot pot" meal.  I have no idea what this is going to entail but I trust in our guide as we walk through the back alleys.  A "hot pot" consists of a bowl of peanut sauce for dipping and a giant pot of boiling water sitting in the middle of the table.  The waiter brings out plate after plate of various kinds of thinly sliced raw meat.  We put the meat in the pot watch it cook, pick it out, dip it in the peanut sauce and go to town.  After about 30 pieces of some of the freshest, best tasting meat I've ever had I come to the realization that I've just had one of the best meals of my entire life.

South Entrance to the Forbidden Palace

 

The start of the Palace after walking through the main gates

 

Emperor’s Throne

 

Rock moved from Southern China as a gift to the emperor

 

Burial ground built on top of a hill made out of burned coal from the palace

 

North Entrance to Forbidden Palace

The Great Firewall of China

Well, I've made it to China, settled into my apartment and have had some time to explore the city.  Since China blocks blogger.com I haven't been able to post until today when I figured out a nice work around for the sites China blocks, so I'm gonna post some backlog of what has been going on the past week.

The first is a post I made the day I got to China.  As you read it, you'll see that I had quite an adventure just getting here......

05/31/2013

After months of preparation, renewed passports, visas arriving at the last second, cancelled flights, and non-English speaking cab drivers I’ve finally made it to Beijing!

As I talked about a few posts ago, traveling is an adventure and I definitely was able to prove that true this past week on the way over.  My adventure began in Fayetteville last Wednesday at 5 AM leaving my house and getting to the Fayetteville airport.  A bit early I’ll say, but no real problem there.  My passport and visa go through without a hitch, security was a breeze, the attendant when I checked in even gave me “priority access” so I could board the plane airplane first.  I’m finally sitting on the plane looking out the window as we start to push out and I think "Who says this international travel thing is hard?"  I close my eyes and decide a nap is the best way to prepare for the long day of travels ahead….

The plane is almost fully backed out of the gate and all of a sudden I feel the little plane produce a giant shake and come to an immediate stop.  After a few intense moments of sitting on the tarmac not moving the captain comes over the intercom and says “we’ve got an issue with the steering, sit tight and we’ll keep you updated.”  My stress level rises a bit after I realize my layover in Dallas is only 45 minutes and being late in that airport could really test my running abilities.  Oh well, not much I can really do, I’m on an adventure right?  About 10 minutes later the plane is moving toward the gate and the captain comes over the intercom and informs all 36 enthusiastic passengers that we’re going to have to get off the plane, the flight is cancelled.  This is exciting!

After getting everyone off the plane, with as you can imagine, giant smiles on our faces, we all make it to the gate desk where there is not 3, not 2, but 1 American Airline worker ready to rebook 36 flights out of Fayetteville.  About an hour later I’m finally able to talk to the worker and get my flight rebooked for Beijing.  I won’t be leaving until 5 PM and instead of flying out of Seattle to Beijing I’ll be leaving direct from Chicago on a 13 hour direct flight.  I make sure the American Airline worker can put me next to someone that weighs over 300lbs and snores to make the flight really fun.  Throw a 2-year old in there as well.

Later that evening in Chicago after getting a months fill of Chipotle I trudge up to the boarding gate dreading my 13 hour flight with only 3 square inches of sitting room and hand the attendant my boarding pass.  She looks at me and says “oh, Mr. Andrews, we needed your seat, here’s your new boarding pass.”  I look down and see that I’ve ben put in the best seat in business class.  Overjoyed, I walk down the tunnel and onto the plane where I'm greeted with a glass of champagne and a hot towel.  Other passengers glare at me knowing that I'm not really supposed to be in business class and give continue to shoot nasty looks at me as I get comfortable in my seat.  I am unaffected, I plop my feet up, sit back and sip on my glass of champagne.

Three hours later I’m 32000 feet above Canada, sitting with my legs stretched out in front of me, finishing the 3^rd course of my 4-course meal, watching the new James Bond film.  China. Here. I. Come.