Marlene in China

It has taken me a long time to write this, my final entry about my five months spent in China. It probably would take me even longer were it not for the fact that the Boston Globe has chosen to print my story in their section about study abroad students, 'World Class', and they are linking to this blog, so I want it to be finished. If you've come here after reading the Globe, thank you and I hope you enjoy this blog! A big thank you to the Globe too, and my friends in Clark's Communications department who helped me submit my story!

So here I am, back in the States for over a month (and what a crazy month it has been) and I'm falling back into familiarity with everything again. But I never feel far from China. I see it and hear it and smell it in Worcester all the time, and I'm so grateful for Worcester's cultural diversity which gives me that opportunity. It's not just the Chinese restaurants and the Asian markets, but I hear people on the street speaking Mandarin, the smell of frying pork or baking bread bring me back to Beijing, and everyone seems to know someone who is currently in, or on their way to China, to study, to travel, for business, etc. China really seems like the place to be for Americans, (and other countries I'm sure) these days, and I feel privileged to have been able to live there during such an exciting and deeply metamorphotic time for the country. China is growing and changing rapidly in every aspect: culturally, industrially, politically, etc. and I cannot wait to see what the future brings for the country.

To recap on my last few days in China, I finally made it to the Olympic stadium, graduated for the second time from CET, and savored every morsel of my last home-cooked Chinese meal at my Beijing ayi's house. Everyone's attitude during the last week was sort of a strained attempt to make the most of every moment, knowing our time was running short. I knew that the only thing I would miss more than the people I was leaving, was the food, so every meal had to be eaten slowly, savored, remembered. Now that I'm home, I have yet to foray into trying to recreate my favorite dishes for myself, but I'll get around to it at some point

I had visited all the places on my list of 'Things to See' in Beijing except one, the Bird's Nest Olympic stadium. My friends who had gone all said that it wasn't a must-see, Giants stadium is bigger, and you should only go at night and look at it from the outside when it's lit up. But I was adamant. I loved watching the opening ceremonies for the Olympics on tv, and I wanted to see where it had all happened. So, my ever-faithful friend Ah Qiong took me one afternoon and I finally got my wish.

My friends were right, inside the stadium seemed surprisingly small, much smaller than it had looked on tv, but I didn't mind. The astroturf in the middle was scattered with people lying down and having picnics, it was all very quiet. I have to admit though, looking up from the inside, because of the strange circular shape of the roof, it sort of feels like you're inside a toilet bowl. haha.

outside of the stadium are two huge parks filled with trees and strange, modern statues. Ah Qiong and I proceeded to have a photoshoot with them all. (As all the other Chinese were too)

I really enjoyed the olympic stadium, it's a very pretty and quiet place to visit. I didn't stay to see it lit up at night, but I'd rather say that I went inside than to just look at it from the outside. The other final touristy thing I did was return to Tiananmen Square to see Mao Zedong's body in his mausoleum. While I have no pictures, this was quite an adventure. It was the day before I flew out of China and I had attempted to see Mao twice before, only to find that the hours the mausoleum were open kept changing, and it was always closed. None of my friends wanted to go with me, they either were uninterested or had already been, so I was going to trek out on my own, until Yuan Chang, my other ever-faithful friend said he'd take me. A long walk to the subway, a long subway ride and then we were in Tiananmen, on a Saturday morning in summertime.

The square was thick with tourists. While we waited for Yuan Chang's friend to show up, we sunbathed on the ground in front of the Forbidden City and cloud-watched.
Lying in the middle of Tiananmen Square and chatting with Yuan Chang is one memory from China that I will always hold dear and never forget.

Once his late friend finally showed up, we only had 45 minutes left to fight the crowds into the mausoleum. There are guards everywhere, filing the endless line along, and their requirements for entry are severe. The first time we tried to enter, they said no bags, so Yuan Chang ran to the bag-check (conveniently located across the street) and ran back. The second time we tried to enter, they said that my shoes (flip-flops) weren't appropriate. I was ready to give up at that point, whatever, I hear Mao's body is fake anyways. But Yuan Chang was determined to get me in, so we ran back to the bag check and he bought me shoes that they keep just for the purpose of entering the mausoleum. They were the traditional cloth Chinese slippers that only old people wear, but I didn't care. We went back AGAIN and were required to show IDs, and I prayed that my CET student ID would be ok, that I didn't need my passport (which I didn't have), and I think it was only because I am short of stature and have dark hair that I blended in between my two Chinese friends and was finally waved inside. What upset me is that already standing in line were two tall thin foreigners wearing flip-flops.

Seeing Mao was – quick. While you’re allowed to linger for a moment, the line in and straight out of the mausoleum is constantly moving. Mao is in a large room, his glass coffin inside a larger glass box, the communist flag pulled up to his chin, and a bright orange light shining right into his face, making him look like a plastic lawn character with a bulb inside it. I nearly laughed before I realized there was an orange light shining on him, he looked so fake. But, whether fake or real (no one really knows), he is basically a 3D version of the portrait hanging in Tiananmen Square, nothing that makes him look human or fallible, no wrinkle or mole that only those who knew him would see, he looked like every other of the thousands of pictures I had seen of him in Beijing. And then we scooted out the back door. As Yuan Chang said bluntly in English, “It’s over.” Haha. While it was a lot of effort for very little reward, I am still very glad I finally got to go in, otherwise I would feel like I had missed an opportunity and would always wonder what the great embalmed Mao looked like.

Before my last journey to Tiananmen Square, we had final exams and graduation. Graduation went well, not too too much to say. The opening and closing banquets of each term at CET were fairly similar. Everyone gathers with their classmates and teachers at a nice restaurant and we sit around tables and eat a many-coursed meal off of a lazy susan before each class’ teachers introduce and thank their class, the students thank teachers, gifts are exchanged, photos are taken, and diplomas handed out. Myself and another girl were chosen to introduce our class and thank our teachers. We both wore qipaos, in English a cheongsam, along with only a small number of other girls. I thought every girl would have gone out for the traditional Chinese fashion, but we were the only ones, making us very popular to stand between for pictures.

the qipao girls: l-r my suitemate Liao Qian, me, my roommate Feng Yue, my other suitemate Nin Nin, and Miaozi

these are my girls, the ones I lived with and spent all my days with. Ah Qiong and I are in the front, Qinglan and Feng Yue are in the back

I love these two so much. Me with Yuan Chang and Qinglan

When the time finally came to leave on June 1st, I thought I would be okay emotionally, I had missed home every day and was so so excited to see my family and friends again. Frantically finishing my packing, I said goodbye to my roommate Feng Yue, Ah Qiong dashed out haphazardly as only she can, and I said goodbye to Qinglan who went off to travel with her mother, but I knew I would see her again soon in the States. It was only when I had put my suitcases into the bus that would take us to the airport did I look around the street and neighborhood that had been my home and take a deep breath, trying to store in my memory the unique smell of Beijing. And then I saw Yuan Chang, saying goodbye to his roommate Ryan. Both were crying. And I lost it. I would miss this place, I would miss all the crazy and wonderful absurdities of China, the delicious food, the bright colors, but most of all, I would miss the kind people, I would miss Yuan Chang so much. I hugged him so tight it hurt and we cried and cried. I promised him, in English and Chinese that I would come back. I cried all the way onto the bus and hiccuped to the airport, the seven of us that were sharing a flight swapping stories about all we had done and learned.

At the airport I, for some reason was bumped up a class and sat in Economy Plus with more leg room and, oh I lucked out, no one sat next to me! So I passed a much more comfortable than before, 12 hour flight stretched out across two seats. Reaching Chicago we all parted ways and my flight home was a little delayed due to a thunderstorm. But then two exhausted, un-showered, I’m-sick-of-planes hours later, and I was home, back in my native New Hampshire being hugged by the people I had missed so much. It was a rush, it was almost like I had forgotten what everyone looked like. I know this probably sounds a little melodramatic as I was only gone for five months, but I really felt like I was in a whirlwind.

And now I’m back. Home hadn’t changed while I was gone, my room and my friends and my campus are all still there, and I still know how to drive a car and I know my way around, though I’ve blanked on some street names. And very quickly it was almost as though I had never left. But I, myself, have changed and grown, and that personal growth is my strongest proof of what I’ve seen and done, and the most cherished thing I brought back with me from China.

June was crazy, coming down from the high of being considered a ‘foreigner’ and re-adjusting to ‘the real world’ as my dad would say. I battled extreme jetlag, took two more flights in and out of the happiest place on earth, Disney World, turned 21, moved back to Clark where I was reunited with all my friends, had my car stolen but found again, went through a painful job search, secured two odd jobs, and all the while I was sharing my stories of China.

So now I’m living on campus in Worcester with my boyfriend and some friends, bumming around trying to find whatever work I can. I’m totally broke but very happy. And best of all, I’m a volunteer tutor at the Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Massachusetts located just a couple streets over from my school. I go in eight hours a week and sit in on ESL classes for Asian immigrants. The majority of them are Vietnamese, but there are a handful of Mandarin speakers who ask me questions and chat with me in Chinese. Everyone at SEAC is very kind and I love that I am still speaking Chinese and interacting with people from Asia.

I miss China, the food and people especially as you know, but I keep in touch with everybody through email and Skype. I fully intend on returning to China, there is no way I could not go back. I made a promise and I intend to keep it. I have a small family there now (ok, so it’s Qinglan’s family) but there are a couple households who have entreated me to return, and I’ll take them up on their offer. I still feel that I am a part of China, its culture and its people, and I will always have a special place in my heart for them.

Thank you to all who have read this blog, and those of you who kept in touch with me while I was away. You are so appreciated.

I want to end this with a poem I found by the famous Chinese poet Li Bai. I found it printed on a fan at Disney World in World Showcase’s China.

Farewell to a Friend

This is the place where we must sever
You go thousands of miles my friend once forever
Like the floating clouds we drift apart
The sunset lingers like the feelings of my heart

送友人

青山橫北郭 , 白水遶東城 ｏ
此地一為別, 孤蓬萬里征 ｏ
浮雲遊子意, 落日故人情 ｏ
揮手自茲去, 蕭簫斑馬鳴 ｏ

李白

如果我的中国朋友们看到这个博客， 我告诉你们， 你们都我爱， 你们都我想念。 我肯定回去中国。

谢谢大家

再见

Hey everyone! I'm sorry it took me so long to get to this, I've been really busy with the last few weeks of class. I graduated today from CET (for the second time, haha!) and only have a weekend of packing left between me and America! I'm excited to come home, but I am going to miss this place a lot.

So, I'll recap the Great Wall camping trip. We left on Saturday morning and headed to a spot you could ascend it located in Beijing province. It was a trek just to get to the wall itself! I often forget that the Great Wall is perched along the tops of mountains, so hiking it isn't exactly a pleasant afternoon stroll.

this ain't the wall you see in the travel brochures baby:

Just to get to the wall we had to spiral up a mountain, then back down it to a suspension bridge across a river, then up another mountain and THEN we were on the wall, only to start a several-hour hike through extremely difficult, crumbling, straight-up, 'hiking' on all fours through ancient rubble trek until we descended in a different province.

the suspension bridge (and the start of the wall in the background):

this is how I felt during most of the hike:

It was pretty hard at times, but so fulfilling in the end, and the views of course were indescribable. Dad, I plan on taking you hiking here, you'd love it. My two Chinese friends Ah Qiong and Yuan Chang managed to haul me through to the end, so I have to thank them.

Ah Qiong!

After we came down from the wall, all the students were put up in a nice hotel near the base and we promptly passed out for a couple hours before dinner at the hotel. After dinner, we had a party in the hotel courtyard with a bonfire and.....s'mores!!! I have been craving s'mores while in China and I think it's only because I have tried time and time again to explain their composition and purpose to the Chinese, but they don't have marshmallows so they don't understand haha. Needless to say, I introduced a lot of Chinese people to their first s'mores sandwiches, and they quickly became fans. After s'mores it was a lot of duck-duck-goose, mama bird, breakdancing and teaching 'the robot' to the roommates haha.

Then in the dark of night, without a flashlight and laden with sleeping bags and pillows, we climbed the wall again, split into groups of 10 or so. We only walked down the wall a little until finding a landing where we could pitch our tents and roll out the sleeping bags for a windy night.

Most people chose to sleep outside, not in the tent, me included. It was a lot of fun, though very uncomfortable, and only towards the morning was it cold. I ended up snuggling with Yuan Chang for warmth lol.

Yuan Chang!

I can't really describe what it was like to wake up outside, sit up, and see the sun coming up over the ancient watch towers of the Great Wall spread before you. It's a feeling and a sight I'll never forget.

I also played a small part as hero, because during the night one of the tents that had no people in it, blew off the side of the wall, and in the morning while all the macho men refused to get up, I hiked down the wall, through the brush, dissembled the tent, tossed it back onto the wall and then attempted (like a Mongolian) to climb back onto it myself. While the climbing didn't work out in my favor and I had to take the stairs back, everyone was shocked to see me returning triumphant with the lost tent. Go me!

The rest of the day was getting the sleep we didn't actually get on the wall, and then driving back. It was an excellent trip where I got a lot closer to my Chinese friends and I'm so glad I had that opportunity!

There's a couple more pictures in the photo gallery that aren't featured here, so go check them out!

I will make one last entry after this, wrapping everything up with my trip to the Olympic Stadium and graduation. I'll be home soon!!!

<3

Hello!

It's been a while since I've updated, and I have so much that I'm splitting it into two entries! There are events from April and the beginning of May that I never blogged about that you need to hear!

Firstly, a while back, CET took us to Beijing's art districts, there are several, but the best and most famous one is called 798. It's an awesome place, just wall to wall galleries that are free to wander in and out of, and on every corner and lamppost is some zany statue or graffiti. I took pictures of some of my favorites:

and the very best:

After coming back to Beijing from Shanghai, it was Qinglan's boyfriend, Dylan's birthday, so the three of us were treated by Qinglan's distant relation, we call him 'crazy uncle George', to go back to 798 and wander. Halfway through the galleries we heard a small squeak coming from an abandoned corner of the alley we were in. Going to investigate, we saw this little face looking up at us from under an old fence:

this poor thing was crying her head off and she was filthy and alone. China has a serious problem with abandoned animals, so you usually just learn to look away. But this was a baby kitten and she was quite loud. there really was no question, we wrapped her up in my sweatshirt, found a box, and took her home to uncle George's house. George and his wife volunteered to keep her, and this little urchin within the course of 30 minutes went from hungry and homeless on the cold streets of Beijing to being the apple of everyone's eye, bathed and fed and living like a spoiled princess. We gave her the official name of 798, in Chinese 'qijiuba', but we all call her Lan Lan. She made a wonderful birthday surprise for Dylan.

last weekend, Qinglan and I were missing Lan Lan and so went back to George's house to visit. We found a fatter, cleaner and wonderfully spoiled little monster named Lan Lan.

I know, who ever though I'd love a cat? But kittens are too cute. So Lan Lan is my baby and I plan on visiting her one last time before I head home.

The day we went to visit George and Lan Lan, George and his wife took us out to lunch at a fancy western mall nearby. To my surprise, look what was there!

It had been my goal to visit the L.L. Bean in Beijing, and I found myself there without even planning it! All excited, I had George take me in, only to find that there really isn't much of a difference from the ones in the States. It was smaller, certainly, and the signs on the walls had English and Chinese, but none of the merchandise had Chinese on it. Oh well, it was still so funny to find myself in L.L. Bean!

George says he really likes L.L.Bean and goes there often, because he likes to travel to Tibet. He says he's been there eight times, and has even been to Everest base camp! Don't worry dad, I put in a good word for you, and George says he has a friend in the Tibetan government, so whenever we want to go, he'll help us.

So that's just to catch up, next up - I conquer the Great Wall of China!

<3 Merl

Hello!

Hi guys, hope you all are well. It’s been about a week and a half since I got back to Beijing from spring break, sorry it’s taken me so long to post everything – getting back into the swing of daily study is tough.

Well, my spring break was certainly one I’ll never forget. I had a lot of unforeseen self-discovery during my trip, and it was very difficult at times, but it was a learning experience I have only benefited from and I’m glad I went. With that said, nothing bad happened and I did things few people can say they’ve done!

I’ll give you a day by day reader’s digest version like I did before.

4/4 Saturday Qinglan and I reached Shanghai by the fastest new train from Beijing and spent the first half of the day settling in and visiting Qinglan’s innumerable relatives. I can’t understand the Shanghai dialect at all and had to rely on Qinglan to translate everything for me! That night we met up with Qinglan’s friend and wandered around rainy Shanghai, going through the touristy sections.

I had to Mom and Dad. This is a center run by Disney to help teach kids English:

Shanghai is VERY different than Beijing. The food, the language, the clothes, the buildings, everything. I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but Shanghai really is the Chinese New York. It’s so so so very western, there were so many other foreigners and so much English, I felt very at home. Shanghai is where the money is at too, cleaner and a bit more aesthetically pleasing than Beijing, there are more designer stores and western restaurants to be found, a lot of what I saw has clearly been adapted to foreign tastes. The thing is though, Shanghai doesn’t have a whole lot to see and do other than emptying your bank account in malls and restaurants, unlike Beijing where there are gads of interesting historical and cultural sites to visit. That said, to a Westerner, Shanghai would be a wonderful place to live, but not necessarily to visit for an extended period of time.

4/5 Qinglan’s step-cousin Lisa and her boyfriend Mumu picked us up for a day out in the countryside. We drove out of the city to a ‘theme park’ in Shanghai’s suburbs. The theme park was actually an old Jesuit church and astronomical observatory perched on a hill. It was very beautiful though, and reminded me very much of California’s San Juan Capistrano.

After the ‘theme park’ we drove even further out of Shanghai to what appeared to be the middle of nowhere, but was actually the very commercial ancient Chinese town of Qiandeng. Apparently the town is over 2500 years old and tons of people come to visit and admire the architecture and quaintness. It was very beautiful and the majority of it still looked authentic, however the masses of tourists pouring in and out took away some of the charm.

In Qiandeng we grabbed lunch, and in an attempt to shock me, Mumu ordered a southern favorite: live shrimp.

Don’t believe me?

They’re actually very placid in the video, but the way to eat them is to wait for one to literally leap out of the bowl across the table, then bite its head off haha. Though I was offered many times, I declined from trying one.

After that we returned to Shanghai and met up with a handful of Qinglan’s family members and several important looking men neither of us knew. We met in the parking lot of the Hyatt hotel in Pudong and were promptly handed tickets allowing us entrance to ‘the tallest building in the world’. Confused, we looked around, then realized we were standing at the base of this:

Well, it’s actually the second tallest building in the world right now, but don’t tell Shanghai. And yes, we were all being pushed inside. Now Qinglan and I are both afraid of heights and were never consulted about this outing. Grudgingly we stood through the pre-elevator ride speech and then felt our ears pop about 12 times as we rode the strobe-lit elevator to the 97th floor (China is all about the show, the presentation, there were so many lights and sounds and unnecessary bells and whistles about just riding that stupid elevator). Once we reached the all-windows 97th floor Qinglan promptly yanked me back to the elevator and we descended to wait for everyone else, thank goodness. I found out later that the top floor of the building is made of glass, and as there is an empty space at the top of the building (beneath the top floor), you literally feel like you’re standing 100 stories above Shanghai with nothing beneath you – no thank you!

After that the night was only just beginning, as I was to find out, and our whole party was driven to a nearby hotel and seated in the best private room at the restaurant. One of the important looking men sat at the head of the table and began snapping his fingers and ordering the waitresses around. He ordered me my own bottle of specialty wine because I was the only foreigner. What was going on? I then found out, he was the owner of the hotel we were eating in, and he offered that Qinglan and I stay at his hotel with VIP treatment, for free (instead of going to our hostel which we had already booked). Though it was a tempting offer, we declined, as we already had plans. Then the extravagant feast began. If I tell the whole story, this entry will never end, so I’ll make it brief. In one meal I ate first a broth filled with twigs and small scorpions (I drank the broth but had no courage to eat the scorpions), then squid genitalia and lastly, eagle. All were very tasty to be honest.

And there is still more. After dinner everyone went out again for coffee, and we went back to the tallest building in the world, to the bar on the 87th floor, the tallest bar in the world (which I actually thought about going to but never had an inkling of an idea I would actually find myself there unexpectedly). Our table was next to the window and we could see all of glittering Shanghai beneath us.

The big cheese man told me to order anything from the menu I wanted, the cheapest thing was a glass of seltzer water for 50 kuai (8 dollars). We spent the night just chatting and enjoying the view, it was the craziest night I had in Shanghai, probably the most unexpected night of my life.

4/6 Monday
Qinglan and I went out shopping with Lisa and Mumu again, played pool and hung around until Qinglan and her family had to go to the airport to pick up Qinglan’s boyfriend Dylan. I spent the night at our hostel and made friends with the two girls I roomed with, two high school grads from England, Hannah and Pippa.

4/7 Tuesday
Didn’t really do anything Tuesday. Shopping and hanging around the hostel playing with a little girl who lived there.

4/8 Wednesday
Last full day in Shanghai, I headed out to the Bund (Shanghai’s famous walkway where you can see the skyline across the river)

Then I took the tourist tunnel underneath the water to the other side (highly recommended by Sara). That night I met up with Qinglan and Dylan to have hotpot with yet another relative, then walked along the Bund at night.

and back to our hostel through Nanjing Lu, Shanghai’s famous shopping street.

This is Shanghai's mascot for the 2010 World expo (he's everywhere in Shanghai!)

4/9 Thursday
Thursday we planned a day trip to Hangzhou through our hostel. There were initial complications and we ended up going with a Chinese tour group – yes exactly like the ones you see in New York and Boston, all wearing the matching hats and led by a tour guide with a flag. It was an interesting experience, but I wish I had had more time to explore Hangzhou on my own and not be rushed through everything. Qinglan, Dylan, Hannah, Pippa and myself all went and were referred to simply as ‘the white people’, haha. It was a draining 3 hours to Hangzhou and back, not giving us much time to peacefully stroll.

First we went to Hangzhou’s famous West Lake and took a boat out for a turn.

Then we walked through West Lake’s gardens

and peacock farms before going to a silk factory, then a tea factory. The annoying thing about these tours is that the tour groups have deals set up with these touristy locations that they will bring us there and then the silk and tea people rope us into buying overpriced ‘Hangzhou specialties’. While some of our Chinese counterparts may have fallen, we foreigners were less than impressed.

Our last stop was to an out-of-the-way temple town that housed Hangzhou’s famous Buddha carvings. While again it was swamped with tourists, the carvings in the rocks were beautiful and I got very close to Hangzhou’s most famous Buddha.

4/10 Friday
After an exhausting day to and from Hangzhou the day before, Friday we boarded a train at 7am to go to Nanjing. I knew nothing about Nanjing other than the unspeakable holocaust that took place there during the Second Sino-Japanese War. But Nanjing turned out to be my favorite place we went to on our whole trip. It was beautiful, warm, very quiet, and we stayed with the two sweetest people ever.

Qinglan’s great aunt and uncle kept us at their home which is on the campus of the Nanjing University of Science and Technology. They are both retired rocketry professors and they made us feel so very comfortable and at home, I’m very grateful.

We did nothing in Nanjing the first day, being altogether too wiped out to move. At night though, Dylan and I went to a concert that was playing in the 32nd floor of Nanjing’s, dare I say it – highest building. Thank goodness it wasn’t as big as Shanghai’s highest building! The concert was very fun, an indie band from Beijing called ‘Hedgehog’ that Dylan had discovered while in the States. I had a really good time and am now a fan. Check out their myspace:http://cn.profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=1300348224

4/11 Saturday
Our last day of vacation. Qinglan’s great uncle took the three of us out to Nanjing’s famous parks, well it’s really three parks all on the side of Zhong Mountain (Middle mountain). The first is the Ming Tombs, the very first Ming emperor’s tomb is in Nanjing, as it used to be the capital (Nan jing means ‘southern capital’), while the rest of the Ming tombs are in Beijing (‘north capital’). The walkway to the tomb is beautiful, lined with giant stone animals that it is impossible not to climb on!

After the Ming tombs is the park that contains Sun Yat Sen’s mausoleum. All roofed in blue, the stairs up to where Sun Yat Sen is buried look daunting, but it really only takes you a moment to climb.
I"m just being silly...

The last park was pretty, dedicated to the KIAs of the revolution when China wrenched power from the emperor and gave it to the people. We climbed a dizzying pagoda and wandered through the temple at the base. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful place.

That night at midnight we boarded our train back to Beijing, and here I find myself buried in work again. It’s hard to believe I only have less than six weeks left . I’ve done so much I’ve wanted to do in China, it’s time to start wrapping things up. In two weeks our program is taking us to spend a night on the Great Wall – I’m very excited!

Stay well everybody, and I’ll see you all before you know it!

as always, more pictures in my photo gallery on the right - go look!

<3 Marlene

Hello everyone!

It's the first day of April! While this month should bring thoughts of sunshine and flowers, Beijing has been hit by a cold front this week, plunging us to near-freezing temperatures, and Beijing shuts off it's gas heating to the whole city, so our dorms and classrooms have become refrigerators. I can't complain though, we have midterms this week and then it's a week in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Nanjing for me!

So over the past three weeks I've done a lot of stuff! Firstly, our program took us all to the Summer Palace. It was beautiful, a definite must see if you're in Beijing. An enormous complex (like a mini city) situated around a lake, the summer palace was the summer retreat for China's royalty. Though it is daily jammed with tourists, it's so large and beautiful that I didn't mind. I didn't even see half of the place though, and didn't realize it! It's almost too much to cover in one day!

I have wanted to see this for some time, it's an old Chinese tradition where people write poems and sayings in Chinese characters on pavement with large brushes and water.

me in front of the lake and the palace's major temple

this is not the famous covered painted walkway, but it's beautiful nonetheless! these are the stairs up the hill to the temple.

me in front of the temple of Buddhist incense (where surprisingly, there was no incense)

Then last weekend, while nearly everyone went on a trip to Xi'an, my friend Qinglan and I explored Beijing's parks. First, the famous Temple of Heaven park, where the emperor used to go and pray.

fooling around in front of the temple...

I admit I was a little disappointed with the Temple of Heaven. It was even more crowded than the Summer Palace, you could barely move there were so many tourists! Also, there's not much to the Temple of Heaven, besides the large blue temple above (the temple for prayer for good harvest), a smaller temple, and then a large nine-tiered pedestal where you can stand that represents the center of the universe. You have to wait in line to get your picture taken on that

After the Temple of Heaven it was straight to Beihai Park, a park just northwest of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City that is famous for the white dagoba that can be seen from it. The white dagoba was built in 1651 to honor a visit from the Dalai Lama, but it's simply ornamental, it's not actually a building you can enter.

Beihai is astoundingly beautiful, entering the park you're faced with willow trees and a white bridge across a placid lake to the small hill where the dagoba sits.

you can wander through the lesser temples and slowly climb the steep hill to the dagoba to see a breathtaking view of the Forbidden City. around the dagoba were blossoming trees which were my favorite part!

looking down from the back of the dagoba is the enormous Beihai lake where you can rent a boat and peddle across to see the famous nine dragon screen on the other bank. Qinglan and I were pooped though, and so descended from the dagoba and called it a day.

The rest of our time has been simple studying, studying, studying. I think everyone's got a bit of cabin fever, so our vacation next week is very welcome. As always, there are a lot more pictures in my album on the right - go look! The next time I update it will be with pictures and stories from Shanghai!

Stay well, all of you!

<3 Marlene