Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City

Wow! We got eight hours of sleep last night. It’s the first time we have slept past 5:30 and boy does it feel good.

Our morning began with a trip to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is one of the world’s largest urban spaces with an area of 100 acres. The square takes its name from the Gate of Heavenly Peace on its north side. We saw, but were unable to go in due to the long line, the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall. This building houses the body of Mao. It is open in the morning during the week. Mao’s embalmed body is raised each day from a subterranean freezer for all to see.

Also in the square we saw the guards guarding the flag of the republic. It was here in front of the flag that Ward was approached by a Chinese man asking to take a picture. At first Ward didn’t understand and told him he already got a picture of the flag but it soon became apparent that this young guy, with his girlfriend looking on, wanted a picture with Ward. Most likely to show his family what a foreign devil looks like!

Our guide mentioned that the square is used for public celebrations. Some of the most recent include; Hong Kong’s return to China and when China qualified for the world cup.

We passed through several large gates until we reached the Forbidden City, officially known now as the Palace Museum. We entered the south gate and walked through the entire area and exited through the north gate. It was called the Forbidden City because ordinary people were not allowed in for over 500 years. The last emperor and his court lived in its palaces after the 1911 revolution, leaving in 1924 to flee to Tianjin. Our guide mentioned he was given two hours to leave the palace or a cannon that was trained on his quarters would be given the word to fire.

There are 9,999 ½ rooms in the structure. Their could not be 10,000 because the emperor’s father’s palace had 10,000 and you could never outdo your father. There are always an odd number of things in Chinese architecture because it was considered lucky. Many of the structures are under renovation for the Olympics. Over the ages some have been destroyed by lightening and/or war. We were able to see the emperor’s throne and bedroom. The people were very small back then. Some rooms contained beautiful clocks, tapestry and china.

We walked through the Imperial garden. It was very beautiful. The pavement had mosaic patterns made of pebbles. They were hand done and denoted stories in some cases.

It was a very long, but scenic walk. The sun was shining brightly and it was quite hot out. Apparently there are not many bright days due to the pollution but since it rained yesterday it helped clean the air.

After lunch we saw the panda bears at the Beijing zoo. Normally they are quite inactive but their keepers were feeding them when we got there so we were able to get some nice pictures.

Northwest of the Forbidden City is the Summer Palace built for Empress Cixi (Su-She) in the 1880s. There are 700 acres of landscaped park containing temples, bridges, fountains and a huge man made lake. We took a small boat ride around the lake to see the two-deck marble boat Empress Cixi had made. It is rumored that she suffered from motion sickness so she didn’t go out on the lake but liked to walk down and look at the boat. It is a very ornate and beautiful structure. Our guide explained that the empress used funds that were earmarked for modernizing the Chinese navy to create the Summer Palace. This error in judgment contributed to the defeat by the Japanese.

Our evening ended with a trip to the Chinese Opera. It was very good. The costumes and acrobatics were amazing. It wasn't a complete opera but two excerpts from two different operas. The stories were told in english on a monitor. The translations were very funny. The guide called them chinglese.

Xi'an to Beijing

Today was mostly a travel day. We rose early and took a flight from Xi’an to Beijing. Beijing has been the capital of China for 1000 years. It means northern capitol. It has a population similar to Shanghai of about 13 million people. Demolition and construction is evident throughout the city as they prepare for the 2008 summer Olympics.

We ate lunch and then took a pedicab (similar to a rickshaw but the driver pedals it like a bicycle) ride to a local hutong. Hutong is a kind of ancient city alley or lane typical in Beijing, where the number of hutongs may run into several thousand. They are around the Forbidden City, many of which were built during the three dynasties of the Yuan, Ming and Qing. There have been two kinds of hutongs. One kind, usually referred to as the regular hutong, was centered closely to the east and west of the palace. Another kind, the simple and crude hutong, was mostly located to the north and south of the palace. The main buildings in the hutong were almost all quadrangles – a kind of enclosure of building complexes formed by four houses standing on the four sides.

We were taken to a hutong occupied by a couple and their 18-year-old son. The wife was employed by the tour group and volunteered to answer any questions we had through an interpreter. We asked her some very personal questions like when she got married (23), was her marriage arranged (yes) and what did she earn at the shoe factory where she used to work (depends on how many shoes you produced). She was very nice and got a kick out of some of the questions. It is unbelievable the small space this family lives in. It consists of 4 rooms, a small kitchen/utility room approximately 8” x 12”, a living/master bedroom approximately 8 x 12, the son’s room approximately 8 x 10, and a private bathroom which appeared to be about 5 x 8. It was a South-facing apartment so it was prime location. Her in-laws also lived in the same quadrangle and her son would also when he gets married. Today approximately 40 people live in the one quadrangle. In ancient times one extended family would occupy the entire quadrangle.

Our guide said he grew up and then lived in the hutong as a young adult. The government came and offered him, and everyone in the surrounding hutongs $28,500 US to move out. There was a $1500 bonus if they were out in 10 days. He was gone! The government tore down all the buildings and built high-rise apartments. The problem was to buy an apartment was $80,000. He put $20,000 down and mortgaged the rest. When the apartment was done they called him and said he would need to pay the maintenance fee, parking fee and hot water fee before they would give him the keys. That along with installing a sink, commode, tile in the bathroom and kitchen, and appliances took the $10,000 he had saved from the sale of his hutong.

Our tour director said that buying a hutong and fixing it up has become all the rage. He mentioned that Jackie Chan had bought one down the street and fixed it up into a $1,000,000 vacation home! Anyone want to invest??? Remember however that the government still owns the land……

By the way I forgot to mention it rained for the first time today while we were in the pedicabs. Luckily they had covers and we didn’t get too wet. They have four seasons like we do at home, with spring and autumn being the nicest. July will start their rainy season. Everyone is grateful for the rain as it washes the pollution out of the air.

We checked in at the Kempinski Hotel at the Lufthansa Center. It is a very nice 5 star hotel. Then many of us headed off to the Hard Rock Café Beijing for an old fashioned American meal.

Xi'an - Terra Cotta Warriors

Today we received quite a history lesson. On our way to see the terra cotta warriors we learned about the rise of the first Chinese unified empire. In 246 BC Qin Shihuang become the first emperor of China. He was only 13 years old at the time. His mother rules until he took the throne when he was 22. He began construction of his mausoleum shortly after. When he died in 210 BC the mausoleum was still not quite complete. The site consists of an underground city with another city on top of that and then a mound of earth 115 m high covering that. The burial site has not been uncovered because of high levels of mercury in the earth. It was rumored that the underground city had a river of mercury running through it. The tomb is the largest tomb in the world. To give you an idea it is 3 football fields long by 2 football fields wide.

About a mile away from the burial site is where the terra cotta warriors were discovered in 1974. Three local farmers were digging a well and brought up pieces of broken pottery. They alerted the government and the terra cotta warriors were found. One of the farmers was at the gift shop and we bought a book, which he signed, and let us take his picture (for 10 Yuan). There are 3 pits, which are in large buildings containing various formations of warriors. The first pit is the most famous and the one you see pictures of all the time. This is the original find. They have excavated most of it and you can see the various stages from what it looks like before to reconstructed figures. This first pit has foot warriors. It is amazing that none of the warriors (approximately 6000) are the same. They have different bodies and completely different faces. In the second pit we saw the cavalry warriors. Much of this pit has not been uncovered yet. You can see samples from different areas of the pit that have been uncovered. The third pit has the infantry warriors. Here you can see the archers and chariots being uncovered.

We also went to a museum in the complex that had two bronze chariots that were discovered just outside the actual mausoleum. They also had examples of some of the bronze weapons found with the warriors. The chariots were unbelievable.

Next stop was the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. The pagoda is the oldest building in all of China. The pagoda is slightly leaning to the left due to the decrease in the water table. Our guide teased that anyone going up in the Pagoda should walk up on the right hand site to prevent it from tipping over. There are monks throughout the area praying. Many books and artifacts are housed there.

We then traveled to the Xi’an city wall. This is the oldest intact wall in China. It encircles what used to be the ancient city. It is 9 miles long and quite beautiful. There is a moat, watchtowers and huge gates. The gates open into a courtyard where there is another gate to the watchtowers. The Chinese would let the enemy into the first gate, close it behind them and trap them in the courtyard and kill them.

We then went to the Tang Dynasty show. It was quite colorful and the music was very interesting. We were quite taken with the costumes and the majesty.

Everyone returned to the hotel exhausted and ready to get a good night’s sleep. Most folks haven’t been able to sleep past 5:00 am each day– including us!

Chongqing - The City of Fog

This morning was our last breakfast on board the Katerina. We left the ship at 8:30 and climbed a steep rise of steps to board our bus for a brief tour of Chongqing (Chong-cheen). Our local guide was Tony. Chongqing has 33 million people and is known as the “City of Fog”. Today was no exception. The city is covered by fog about 100 days of the year! The city was a target of the Japanese during WWII. All along the streets you can still see concrete bunkers dug into the hillside. The Chinese have converted most of them into storage, small stores and even car washes! The entire downtown portion is on the mountain. The roads are very narrow and steep.

Our first stop was a square at the top of the mountain. It was very interesting. This was the most direct contact we had with the Chinese people to date. They were openly checking us out (staring). There were special events in the square today so we were able to see crafts from the local people and watch them dance.

Our next stop was a museum dedicated to the Flying Tigers. When the Japanese started bombing Chongqing, the US was asked informally to help. Because we weren’t yet in the war, a group of volunteers from various parts of the armed services resigned their commission and went to train under the leadership of a two star general named Stilwell. Stilwell was very successful and some 2500 Japanese planes were destroyed compared to 500 US planes. The recovery rate of crew on our downed planes was 95% - amazing. Near the museum is a reconstruction of General Stilwell’s residence and headquarters. While the building was reconstructed, the furniture inside was original. The museum was just given first class status in the last year and is visited quite often especially by the US. Interesting side note, one of the gentlemen in our group grew up on the same street where General Stilwell lived!

We then stopped at a local restaurant and ate lunch. Either the food is becoming more western or we are getting used to Chinese food. The food was very good and I ate the entire meal with chopsticks. Given I haven’t been able to do this since we’ve been here, I’m quite proud of myself.

Next stop – Xi’an (She-ann) – the home of the Terracotta warriors. We left Chongqing airport and arrived at Xi’an around 4:30. The area is very flat and we saw tractors for the first time. Here, like Chongqing, the air was very foggy, which we didn’t expect. Our guide explained that the farmers are cutting the winter wheat. It isn’t fog in the air but wheat chaff. It blankets the entire city! Needless to say everyone with allergies is starting to have a rough time. This is a city of 7 million people – one of the smaller large cities in China. It is known for its agriculture, history, education (there are 35 universities) and most recently tourism. This is the home of the first emperor of China. 1 million foreigners and 15 million Chinese come to this site. Our guide thanked us for his job because he is now able to provide for his needs.

One of the down sides that we have seen in China is the pollution. This town is has two rivers. One is so polluted that the water cannot be drunk nor can it be used for swimming. Xi’an has many industries; aeronautics, paper mills etc. China is a major contributor to global warming. Many feel that not enough emphasis is being put on cleaning up the rivers and air.

We arrived at the Shangri-La Golden Flower hotel around 6:00 and had what was definitely the most western meal we’ve had so far. It was very good. Until dinner tonight we haven't see anything chocolate. There was more chocolate than we could have hoped for.