Ticket to Ride
Today the curtain falls on this stay in China with a flight home to Richmond, Virginia by way of San Francisco for a visit with Joe, Licia, Anne, and Raven. The heart is heavy.
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Today the curtain falls on this stay in China with a flight home to Richmond, Virginia by way of San Francisco for a visit with Joe, Licia, Anne, and Raven. The heart is heavy.
. . . the kindness, the helpfulness, the generosity the hospitality, the camaraderie and the support.
Jin and Sissi, Wu Gang, Xue Hua, Gloria, Yolanda, Rita, Peiying, Mei, Ye, Ginger, Jumbo, Duang, He, and Zhang, Matt, Istvan, Zhu Chouwen, Prince and Dan, Fuji, Daniela, Andy and Ryan, Tony, Deborah, Grant, Gina, and Winston, Aicheng, Ding Yan, Marian, John W, Ian and Sissi, Sophie, Robert, Anna, Robert, Marian, Deb, June, KJ, Lena, Liesl, Jennifer and Carol, Joyce, John H, Jiang, Yi-Kuan.
VCU is currently hosting over 70 visiting students and faculty from both the Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) and Fudan University in Shanghai. The "American Studies Program" is a month-long program intended to offer these students insight into American culture and education. The students are attending daily lectures offered by VCU professors on a variety of topics such as American political science, history, mass communications, homeland security, literature, jazz, business and more. They are also attending day trips to the surrounding area including Charlottesville and Richmond, and will travel to Washington, DC and New York in early August. The students are accompanied by fifteen VCU students who are interning for the program.
Each student is keeping a blog of their time in Richmond and the US. Below I have included the links for the students' blogs. Take a minute to get a glimpse of how the Chinese perceive VCU!
Read students' comments on their blogs.
An evening stroll from our Beijing hotel led to neighborhood hutong (narrow alleyways), which, according to Lonely Planet’s 2005 edition of China, is a way to “move beyond the must-see sights and shopping mall glitz of town.”
Hutong nearly all run east-west to ensure that the main gate faces south, satisfying feng shui requirements. This south-facing aspect guarantees a lot of sunshine and protection from the more negative forces from the north. This positioning also mirrors the layout of all Chinese temples, nourishing the yang (the male and light aspect), while checking the yin (the female and dark aspect). (Lonely Planet)
01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 Rachel and Jack Rachel Buying Posters
The Great Wall
He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man. Mao Zedong
There are five sections of the Great Wall open to tourists within driving distance of Beijing: Badaling, Mutianyu, Juyonguan, Simitai, Jinshanling, and Huanghua. Badaling gets the most visitors and is the most commercial. Rachel and I opted for Mutianyu, which turned out to be a good choice—not crowded and not “too” commercial.
We eschewed the hotel tour bus, which goes to Badaling and makes stops at a Jade factory and a health center where so-called physicians diagnose ailments by holding one’s hand and then prescribe traditional Chinese medicine. A taxi ride shared by two made the transportation cost less than the bus tour.
A cable car ride to the wall provided breathtaking mountain vistas and views of the wall. A walk along the wall brought fresh, cool mountain air and an appreciation for this engineering and construction marvel.
For information on the wall, see this Travel China Guide website.
The Way Up 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Cable Car Descent Rachel Ron
“The Forbidden City, so-called because it was off-limits for 500 years, is the largest and best preserved cluster of ancient buildings in China. It was home to two dynasties of emperors, the Ming and the Qing, who didn’t stray from this pleasure dome unless they absolutely had to” (China Lonely Planet 2005).
This large plaza located in the center of Beijing runs on a north-south axis. Walking the square from south to north leads to the Gate of Heavenly Peace, the entrance to the Forbidden City. The wide open space of this concrete surface strikes awe for the monuments and buildings that sit on or surround it.
Entering the Front Gate at the southern end brings you face to face with Chairman Mao’s Mausoleum, a large building that houses the sarcophagus that attracts a large line of slowly moving people who pass by to pay their respects or to view Mao’s body.
Continuing northward over wide open expanses leads to the Monument to the Peoples’ Heroes, a 37.9 meter high granite obelisk that rises from a multi-level masonry platform, a popular site for photo-ops.
To the left, on the western side of the square sits the Great Hall of the People, the home of the National Peoples Congress, the government seat and center of power. The architecture is classical and institutional in appearance while awe-inspiring for the history that it embodies.
Across the square from the Great Hall of the People lies the Museum of Chinese History and the Museum of the Chinese Revolution on the eastern side.
Continuing northward the square leads to and ends at the Gate of Heavenly Peace, a large inverted U over which is hung a large likeness of Mao. A bridge over the surrounding moat ushers one toward the gate and into the Forbidden City.
Front Gate to Tiananmen Great Hall of the People Monument to the Peoples Heroes Museum of Chinese History Toward the Gate of Heavenly Peace Gate of Heavenly Peace Main Entrance in Gate of Heavenly Peace
The Lama Temple is the most renowned Tibetan Buddhist temple outside of Tibet and “Beijing’s most colorful temple"(China Lonely Planet 2005). The early residence of Count Yin Zhen, who in 1723 was promoted to emperor and took up residence in the Forbidden City, the temple was renamed Yonghe Palace when his name was changed to Yong Zheng. It was then converted to a lamasery (monastery for lamas) and became the residence for monks from Mongolia and Tibet. (Lonely Planet 2005).
Filled with icon laden rooms whose focal points are statues of Buddha, the most prized one a 55 foot sandalwood Buddha carved from a tree trunk, the temple is a popular destination for tourists and worshipers.
Incense for Buddha A Temple More Temples Rachel and Jack Eaves Prayer Wheel Watch Lion
After several hours in Beijing the difference sinks in. The buildings here are much lower than in Shanghai. It probably goes back to the time when no building could exceed the height of the royal palaces of the Forbidden City. On further viewing the difference in architectural style is evident. Beijing does not have the forests of high rises that punctuate Shanghai. Beijing buildings are classic. Shanghai's contemporary. Preparation for the 2008 Olympics is evidenced in construction, cleanup, plantings, murals, and Olympic logos and banners in a city preparing to host a big party.
Meet fellow English teacher Deborah, her son Jack, and his friend Rachel. Hail a cab for a mad dash to the Shanghai Train Station. Board the train at 7:30 P.M., settle in to the four-person compartment that has two lower and two upper bunks. Watch the city lights as the train pulls out. Enjoy the smooth, quiet ride as the train moves on at a speedy non-stop clip for the twelve-hour trip. Visit the dining car. Climb to the upper bunk, snuggle in with a book. Drift off to sleep. Lights out. Dream on.