Hello fellow readers. Thanks for joining me once again. I returned last evening from Beijing on the high speed rail. I really like traveling by high speed rail, it’s quick and easy. You can even buy your ticket the same day you are traveling. It’s better than flying because you can get up and walk around if needed, bring your own food, listen to music or watch tv the whole time. If given the chance, I would definitely use it again.

I have quite a few pictures to share so prepare yourselves.

This was in Tiananmen square. There were several other buildings of importance in this area, including Tiananmen tower, Monument to the People’s heroes, Mao Zedong Memorial Hall, just to name a few.

Monument to the People’s Heroes commemorates the martyrs during the revolutionary struggle of the 19th and 20th century.

Probably the most famous part of Tiananmen everyone recognizes. It basically says, “Let China live for ten thousand years”

Close up of Mao’s picture and what the guards look like.

Some of the pillars in front of Mao’s picture

Can’t forget the lion..dog…dragon… whatever this is.

Just so you can see some of the detail on the building

This was another building behind Mao’s picture, I believe it was called 

Walking through the huge gates

This building was called Wu Men. More details.

Next to Tiananmen there was a park called Zhongshan Park. I didn’t go in but I thought the view was nice.

Another one.

I also was able to go to the Beijing zoo and see this cutie :D I also learned from the signs around the panda exhibit that a panda is called xiong-mao which means bear-cat but it was originally called mao-xiong or cat-bear but because chinese use to be read from right to left, it was mixed up over the years in translation so they just kept it as xiong mao.

He likes his bamboo ;)

Cool tiger statue at the zoo.

Feeding the giraffes :)

I couldn’t get a picture of it but they were actually giving themselves dirt baths

I was lucky enough to meet up with a few teachers I’ve had in the past on my trip to Beijing and Tianjin. This is Zhao Laoshi and Li Laoshi, both teachers I had at Mount Holyoke and they have since returned to Beijing. We had a very tradition Beijing style meal. We had lamb, beef tripe, meatballs, corn soup, and probably a few other dishes I’ve forgetting.

I also made it to 天坛 or the temple of heaven in Beijing. The temple of heaven was built in 1420 and used as a place where emperors went to worship heaven in hopes of having a fruitful harvest. This was in the “Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests”

Detailing on the same building

For some reason people were having photo shoots here. Exhibit A.

Ashley at the Temple of Heaven :D

From the top looking out at the gate.

Gates to Echo Wall

Inside view.

Kind of hard to see but this was the circular mount altar, very flat with many levels. There was also an abstinence palace and longevity pavilion but this place was actually really huge and I was quite tired at this point. I should also mention there were so many people who thought I couldn’t speak Chinese and they would say “that foreigner…blah blah blah” and I would turn and look right at them and their facial expression would completely change. You should never assume, right?

I was also lucky to meet with one of my teachers from Middlebury, Wu Laoshi. She was always super helpful and taught me a lot. We ate at a taiwanese restaurant.

Some of the dishes we had. Rice with vegetables, pineapple and cashews and some barbecued chicken.

Some sweet and sour fish. Yes, in China, they leave the head and tail on. At this point I’ve just gotten used to it.

Our dessert mochi. For those of you who don’t know, this is red bean and green bean with a sweet kind of syrup and then there is ice in the middle of the “mound” so it’s cold. There are also tapioca pearls on the bottom. It’s meant as a dessert but to me desserts in China aren’t actually very sweet. This was my first time having mochi. It’s not bad tasting, but it’s just not dessert to me.

One day I went to Tianjin, which is half an hour away by high speed rail. I went to visit yet again another Middlebury teacher. This giant clock and bridge were outside the train station. My teacher said that the bridge is supposedly constructed by the same person who made the Eiffel tower.

For our lunch we had roast duck which is a delicacy in the northern part of china. They have these very thin pancakes and you put the duck meat, as well as vegetables and sauce inside, wrap it and eat it. DELICIOUS! If you ever come to the northern part of China, try it! It’s great

We also had some strip of beef that can be wrapped in what is called “tofu skin” which is basically tofu as a tortilla, also eaten with vegetables.

This is the Tianjin Eye. It is supposedly the only ferris wheel ever to be built over water.

I did some window shopping at the Ancient culture street in Tianjin. It’s a very popular tourist site.

Some vases on Ancient Culture Street.

Gold, gold and more gold.

The part of Tianjin that has lots of European style architecture.

Close to the Italian Town of Tianjin.

The part of town had a lot of nice architecture so there were a lot of wedding photo shoots going on.

Clock tower.

Beautiful bridge in Tianjin.

Panorama outside the train station.

Xu Laoshi and I. The train station is behind us.

Overall it was a pleasant trip. If given the chance, I would like to go back. Because I was here in Beijing for a long time you have realize this is the shortened version. Maybe I will do another post with the rest of the pictures. On another note, it’s hard to believe but there is just a little more than a month left of our program. In the final stretch! Until next time,

柯艾欣