My Summer in Shanghai: Beijing!

Our Beijing trip was a success! There is so much to discuss, so I will break it down by day.
Thursday
After waking up at 4:00, we left our apartment complex at 4:45 and headed to the Shanghai Hongqiao Airport. We then took a 7:00 flight to Beijing. I was surprised that the airplane was a huge Airbus like the ones that usually go from the US to Europe or Asia. But I guess with so many people in China, many flights use large planes. We got into Beijing at around nine and boarded a bus to our hotel where we had a buffet breakfast. I am very happy to report that there was toast and jam. After breakfast, we headed to the Hutong district of Beijing, which preserves the traditional residential style of Beijing. The hutong were alley houses somewhat similar to the Shikumen of Shanghai. We also tried some Beijing street food including crab apples on a stick dipped in candy, honey flavored drinkable yogurt, and scorpions (not me personally). We toured a few family homes and even had lunch prepared by a local family. We then went to the Lama Temple, which is a Buddhist temple built in the 1600s. The temple was previously the home of an emperor, who made it a Buddhist temple so that his father might make it into heaven. There were many Buddha statues including one at the end that was around 60 feet high and carved from one tree! Unfortunately, photography was not allowed inside the buildings. There were also many Chinese people burning incense in front of the temples and bowing to the Buddhas. Needless to say, the air was very fragrant. We finished the day with a tradition Peking Duck dinner. To eat Peking Duck, you wrap the pieces of duck with some sauce and onion in a tortilla-like shell and eat it like a burrito. I had never had duck before and really enjoyed it. We were so exhausted from getting up at 4:00 that we went to bed early after arriving at our hotel.

Friday
We started the day at the Forbidden City, which I was very excited to see after reading about it in my Chinese modern history book. It was very crowded and I had my first experience with a squat toilet, which was something I prefer to forget. There was also trash all over the place right outside the entrance. The Forbidden City was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was built in the early 1400s and was used until 1911 when the republic started. I was surprised by how huge it was. The buildings just kept going and going. After lunch, we went to the 798 art district, which is a converted factory area. We walked around the art galleries and did some shopping. In the evening, we rode the bus to a local tourist street and had the worst Western food ever for dinner and then went into some shops. I tried to get a taxi back to the hotel at around 10:00, but none of the taxis would take me. I later learned that nobody else in our program could get a taxi in Beijing either. The drivers would stop, look at us, shake their heads, and then drive away. It seems that there is more racism in Beijing, so we were all glad that we chose to study in Shanghai instead.
Saturday
Saturday was definitely a highlight. We traveled to the Jinshanling portion of the Great Wall. The Jinshanling portion is less touristy than many other parts of the Great Wall, which was much appreciated. We drove for several hours to get there. The mountains were absolutely beautiful. We hiked for a little over two hours and even made it to an unrestored portion of the wall, where we really had to do some climbing. It was so much fun and it was something that I will never forget.
Sunday
We woke up early and headed to the Panjiayuan Market, which is a huge fake antique/jewelry/souvenir market. We had about an hour to shop and there was an overwhelming number of vendors and products available. We then went to the Temple of Heaven, which is a Taoist temple that the emperors would visit to pray for a good harvest. Right outside of the temple complex was a large park that was very popular for exercise. We saw some really muscular Chinese men doing gymnastics as well as people dancing to live singing. We then had lunch at a buffet and visited the Hongqiao Pearl Market before going to the train station to catch the high speed train (gao tie) back to Shanghai. The train ride was only 5 hours, which is pretty amazing! Overall, the trip was a great experience and I am very glad that I got to see so many historic sites that I have read about. With the end of the trip, however, came the return of reality. My capstone research project is due in just over three weeks and I have so much to do! Chinese class is also moving pretty quickly. It is strange to think that i will be coming home in less than 4 weeks. There is so much to do by then! Thanks for reading such a long post!