Day 2 in Beijing
First, let me just say that everyone is fine and is having a wonderful time!And now, a quick update about our second day in Beijing ...
The day started with a fascinating lecture on Chinese politics by Professor Zhong, who has actually lived through many of the turbulent events in Chinese history – including the Cultural Revolution and the death of Chairman Mao. His lecture was refreshingly honest and very enlightening, and the students gained a great deal of insight into how and why China views the rest of the world.
After lunch we climbed on the bus for a trip to the Summer Palace, which is where many generations of emperors spent much of their time. It was also the primary resident of the Empress Dowager, who oversaw the last days of the Chinese monarchy. The Palace is an incredible place, expansive and lush, with beautiful gardens and a very large lake – complete with paddle boats. Later that day we had an incredible ‘peasant’ meal in a restaurant within walking distance of the summer palace. No one is going to go hungry on this trip!
By the way, I forgot to mention that one of yesterday’s adventures involved riding the Beijing Subway from the university to Tiananmen Square. It was a very interesting experience, particularly considering that there were 25 of us, all trying to stay together, while boarding two trains with at least 100,000 other people. The subway cars were jammed, and we ran alongside the train trying to jam ourselves in. It was a bit nerve-wracking, but we all made it!
On the agenda for tomorrow is probably the highlight of the Beijing visit – the trip to the Great Wall. So we should have a photo from there in the next couple of days!
By the way, it looks as though tomorrow (Monday) might be a busy day, and so I'm not sure whether I'll be able to post a blog. If not, I'll definitely let you know how things are going on Tuesday.
In the meantime, I'll finish with two slightly less exotic photos. The first shows what it was like on the Beijing subway. The second shows the group in front of the tonight’s restaurant – and no, we didn’t eat at McDonalds, although some of the students just HAD to check out the menu there!
Zai Jian!
posted by Dr. William Spangler @ 9:34 PM
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