The Next Few Days

Friday 3rd October
After breakfast in the canteen for the first time (Chinese style) – boiled eggs, cabbage, rice porridge, cake, steamed buns, garlic cucumber etc. – we went by bus into Beijing.
After two and a half hours we eventually made it to the Capital Museum.

We spent an interesting couple of hours discovering Chinese culture through their informative displays - Chinese opera, porcelain through the ages, a timeline of Chinese history and many more.

After walking across the road to have McDonalds for lunch, we continued on to the Drum and Bell Towers but unfortunately we discovered they were not open. Instead we walked through a nearby hutong (very upmarket) and then around a lake where the students had the chance to try toffied fruit on sticks, watch Chinese people using the exercise equipment that we have seen in many places, youths doing tricks on their bikes etc.

Dumplings for dinner – Ms van Beem was really pleased! They were delicious and so was the rest of the meal!

Back at school we managed to have a short time on the internet before lights out.

Saturday 4th October
After breakfast in the canteen again we set off for the Temple of Heaven. Situated in the southern part of Beijing, this ancient garden covers an area three times the size of the Forbidden City. The gardens contain the Temple of Heaven, The Circular Mound Altar, The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest and many other smaller sections.
Mrs Lowe’s class New Zealand friend Paraki (a Swamp hen) came with us and so did Echo – the Chinese teacher who ha d been at Oberthur during first term this year.

We visited Liulichang Antique Street next and although we didn’t have much time for shopping the students enjoyed looking a a completely different sort of shop. From there we wandered through a different section of the hutong to the one the teachers had walked through and the students had the chance to see how many Beijing people still live.

The end of the hutong brought us out right next to the restaurant where we had dinner before going to the Red Theatre.

The show at the theatre was called The Legened of Kung Fu and told the story of a little boy in an ancient temple. Through practising Kungfu and Zen he becomes a master and finally reaches the sacred goal of enlightenment. The show was fantastic and at the ned we had our photos taken with the stars of the show. It was a great end to a very busy day!!

Sunday 5th October
Up bright and early again with another busy day ahead of us. First stop was the Beijing Aquarium. Here we saw a fascinating array of different sea creatures from China and around the world. We also saw a dolphin show and although the commentary was in Chinese it was very entertaining!

Right next door to the Aquarium is the Beijing Zoo so we went in to have a look at the Pandas. What’s a visit to China without checking out the Pandas? Although much of the zoo is like our zoo many years ago the newest panda enclosures are a huge improvement on the ones we visited first.

After leaving the Zoo we walked quite a distance to the nearest subway station so the students could experience train travel in Beijing. The first train was quite busy and the second was very “squashy” – in fact each of the teachers had a group of two or three students and it took three trains before we all reached our next destination - The Silk Markets. Bartering skills were put to good use again and many a bargain and gift was found!

We braved the subway again to make our way back to Changping where we enjoyed a delicious Peking Duck Dinner. The chef came into our room and we were able to watch how the duck was carved. We all made duck mini wraps and some people even tried the duck’s head! Back to school then for an earlier night.

Monday 6th October
Today our first stop was the National Park. This park is not like our National Parks but is set out in communities to show the 56 different groups who are in China. The first display was Tibetan and we saw some dancers practising and walked through their small museum. Some of the displays were just representation of buildings etc from their areas and others had dancing and other shows to watch. We saw some people climbing a knife stalk – and the knives on the stalk were very sharp! We joined in a water dance and some of us got wet at the end of the dance when the water vessels were spun around and water tossed everywhere – as a way to bless the area and give good fortune to the people. Although we only had time to see part of the park it gave us fascinating insight into the culture of the many different people who make up China.

We got very lost on the way to our restaurant for lunch – first on foot and then in the bus – so we eventually stopped at another restaurant. Nearby was the Bird’s Nest and the Watercube which unfortunately were closed to the public and we could only take pictures from outside a fenced off area.

Back to Liulichang Antique Street this time with some time for the students to explore the shops. We watched artists doing calligraphy and painting and looked in shops selling a great variety of goods both antique and new. One artist showed us how he paints inside glass globes and bottles using a bent brush. He has to do the whole of the painting and writing upside down.

After dinner the students and teachers had the opportunity to experience an exciting part of Chinese cultureat the Lao She Teahouse. We sipped tea and ate Chinese snacks such as dried plums, pastries and green tea biscuits whilst being entertained by comedians, singers and acrobats. Although we couldn’t understand the jokes and songs everyone really enjoyed the acrobats and kungfu. The face-changing artist was also fascinating.

Another late night after another very busy day!

Tuesday 7th October
Today we headed to the Western outskirts of Beijing not far from the Zoo and Aquarium to see The Summer Palace. The Summer Palace covers an area even bigger than the Temple of Heaven and is the largest royal park in China. It was originally built in the 12th century but after being ruined by fire was rebuilt in the late 1800’s as a holiday place for the then Empress. The Summer Palace is built around a man-made lake - Lake Kunming. There were many buildings and gardens to look at and we had a boat ride to cross from one section to another.

Lunch today was a Hot-pot (steamboat) and many of the students said it was their favourite meal so far because not only did it taste great but it was fun to cook!

After lunch we headed to the E-top Centre where we had a chance to look at a huge variety of electronic goods. I have never seen so many different varieties of cameras, flash drives, computer parts etc. all under the one roof.

Tonight was our first dinner in the canteen and then time in the computer lab for using the internet before an early night.