THIS SENTENCE IS ONLY A PUN IF YOU READ THE TEXT BEFORE PEKING AT THE PICTURES.
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Day 4
Well it’s the third full day in Beijing, and quite honestly it was my favorite day so far. Today was the first day we were allowed to break away from the group, as the Education majors were on a side tour to visit a local elementary school. So the rest of us in the Media and Film department decided to visit the part of Beijing that I can best compare to time square in New York. It is probably three or four blocks of outlet and department stores that features clothing that doesn’t go bigger than a medium and shoes that don’t go past 8 ½. Other than the fabulous deals, the most notable part of the area is that it is closed off to vehicular traffic. Unfortunately, that is all I remember as the rest of the morning in the area is just a blur, starting with me accidently wandering into a Nike Store and getting stuck in a labyrinth of connected stores where every exit led to the entrance of another store, and finishing with me trying to be lured into a “student art show”. But all things considered this was a pretty interesting part of the trip as I experienced the local lifestyle instead of the typical tourist location.
From “Time Square” we decided to be adventurous and ride the Beijing subway. They wouldn’t take our Metro cards, but other than that the ride was pretty similar to New York City transit, except for being 100 times more crowded. We went during a non-rush hour time but it still was shoulder to shoulder. The other thing of interest was how smooth the ride was. It could have been a mechanical difference, but my theory was that in America our tracks are curved and aren’t just in a straight line, while in Beijing the tracks are set up more like an underground monorail, with all the stops set up in a relatively straight line. This experience was neat, because before I left the states, I learned about the underground tunnels and walk ways in Beijing. I learned that not many westerners know about them, so it was pretty cool to actually experience them first hand.
I guess you could say that we were on the panda express, because we got off the train and immediately headed over to the Beijing Zoo. Words can’t describe how adorable these pandas were, so below I’ve attached a slide show of some of the pictures. I didn’t really see the non-panda part of the zoo, because the other animals reminded me of the Pop Corn Park Zoo, and just paled in comparison to how cute the pandas were. My personal favorite was the one that climbed up to the top of a tree. My least favorite was the one that was on lunch break and wouldn’t give us the time of the day.
After the zoo, we took a short bus ride to the Temple of Heaven. Two days ago, I thought the biggest place I would ever see was the grounds of the Forbidden City, and then today I learned that the Temple of Heaven was four times as big as the Forbidden City. One of the coolest parts of the whole place was its design and how it used sound. There was a spot called the whispering wall, where you could say something at one wall and someone hundreds of feet away could hear it. I don’t know if they designed it for that purpose or if it was just a positive side effect, but either way it was pretty cool. Also there was a certain place that if you stood in one spot and clapped it would echo once, and if you stood one step to the right and clapped it would echo twice, and one more step it would echo three times. It was too crowded while I was there to try it, but after the place closed one of the students went missing (don’t worry we found her) and someone in the search party tried it and said the echo was quite noticeable. But for me, the nicest part about the Temple of Heaven, was the air quality. There were many cypress trees on the premise and so compared to the rest of the city, the temple of heaven was a breath of fresh air.
The last thing we did today was try an authentic Peking Duck meal. The nice part of the restaurant we went to, aside from being “famous for Peking Duck” (although I have a feeling that is the Beijing equivalent to “World’s Best Coffee”) was how they carved the duck right in front of you. Not only that, but they also taught you a little tutorial on the correct way to eat it. I found this dinner to be delicious, and because dinner was the show, very entertaining. I don’t know if they do Peking Duck meals like this in the states, but I would definitely recommend trying this back home.
Well that’s it for today, and sadly that’s it for Beijing, as today was our final day in the city. But there’s no time to sulk on this trip as we get up bright and early tomorrow for a short flight to Xi’an. I’m pretty excited, because up next: Terra cotta warriors and a dumpling feast.
wǎn ān,
Kevin
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WHAT DO PANDAS EAT FOR LUNCH?
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