Great Wall and Satire

It's been a while since I've updated. I don't really have too many exciting or worthwhile experiences to write about. I mean, I obviously do since I am in China; however, it's just I don't think many people would find my everyday experiences interesting. Anyways, last week was semi- interesting. ACC often arranges activities for us and we go to them in order to get a taste of Chinese culture - as if living in Beijing isn't enough. They arranged for us to see a play.

The play was a two man show. It was entitled "A Two Dog's View of Life." It was very avant-garde and I think it was meant to be absurdist theatre. The Beijing accent was very heavy and I'd be lying if I told you that I understood everything. The play was rife with puns, slang, and a variety of different impersonations that I didn't really get. It's always difficult to understand the comedy of another culture - the true representation of a culture seems to manifest itself in the form of comedy. Anyways, the parts that I did understand were quite funny and it was a good performance. The actors were quite talented and I was entertained for a good two hours. Here are some pictures:


The next adventure was our trip to visit the Great Wall. It literally was a dream come true. I remember as a child reading books about the Great Wall and ancient China. It was incredibly exciting. We went to one of the "prettier" sections of the Wall. It's called "Simatai." The weather was perfect - not too hot and not too cold. We started the climb. It wasn't too tiring, however, many of the steps were uneven so that provided for some near slips and falls. However, the scenary was spectacular that day.

It's interesting to live in a city like Beijing where the juxtaposition of Chinese and Western Culture is so apparent. However, this was a place that was authentically Chinese, rich with history and definitely a cultural experience.


When in Rome do as the Romans do. So, when in China pose like all of the Chinese people do!


My one pensive shot. It was a lot to take in.

Then I did one of the coolest things I've done so far. I ziplined across the gorge. It was pretty exciting. I mean, how often do you get to zipline on the Great Wall of China? That's what I thought. It was incredible.


Getting suited up (a terrible picture, by the way. But, I only have one.)


My friend on the other side took this. It's pretty amazing.

So, that was last week. This week is pretty much study and study hard. Next Wednesday through Sunday we're on Spring Break. My friends and I are going to Shanghai and Hangzhou. I am really excited and will definitely have some more pictures from that trip. But, I should head to bed. Miss you all!

--Aaron

Sichuan!

The past week has pretty much been one of the most amazing experiences here. It pretty much summed up the reasons why I came to China: to see and experience new things and be touched in a completely different way. This trip to Chengdu has certainly done all that and more.

After my midterm and my two oral exams we were off on our 25hour train ride. It, somehow, didn't feel like 25 hours. The beds were actually really comfortable and it was an enjoyable ride. The views were pretty spectacular. From the train you can really tell how diverse the geography of China actually is. We went from mountains with snow on the top to valleys full of the most amazing yellow flowers I'd ever seen. Here's a picture of our facilities:


We arrived in Sichuan at 6pm on Saturday. We took a bus to our hotel and had dinner there. It was absolutely delicious. One of the cooler aspects about China is that you can always differentiate a region by its food. For example, in Beijing (the north), it's colder here so people eat more noodles and soup-type dishes. However, Sichuan (the southwest), the region is warmer. So, more rice is eaten and the food is quite a bit spicer. The spices are used to preserve the meat, thus causing your palette to, sometimes, suffer under the extreme heat. I love spicey food so this was a welcome change.

Chengdu is a lovely city with a very strange accent. It's always an interesting mark on language learning when you can begin to hear the subtleties in pronounciation. It's also interesting because Chinese culture is truly rich and deep. Each region has its own norms and mores that set it apart from the neighboring regions.

In Chengdu our first stop was to see pandas! I was incredibly excited! Chengdu has the largest research and breeding facility of pandas. We went really early in the morning in order to see them feeding - at any other point of the day they would be sleeping. We were warned with this sign before entering:


The pandas were all really cute and looked like so much fun!


However, the cutest pandas were the panda cubs! They weren't outside, but were behind glass. The pictures aren't terribly good, but I feel their cuteness transcends the bad lighting.


And here's one of some of my friends:

Our next visit was to the visit Le Shan. This is home of the Grand Buddha which is 71 meters high and carved into a cliff face overlooking the Dadu and Min rivers. It is the largest of the ancient Buddhas in the world. The project was started by a monk in 713BCE. What is really cool about the Buddha is that they constructed it with a water-drainage system inside to prevent weathering. I also remember seeing this Buddha on the Discovery channel when I was younger. It was a surreal experience seeing it in real life.


The following day was an incredible adventure: mountain climbing. We woke up bright and early and packed a change of clothes and some snacks. We were off to Emei Shan. Emei Shan gets a steady stream of Buddhist pilgrims that come to pray at its many temples. The monastaries hold somber monks, the tinkle of bells, clouds of incense, and firewood and lumps of coal that obscure your view and engulf you at the same time.

It was a drizzly day. We all knew that the trek up the mountain would certainly be wet and miserable. It was a grueling experience. We started the trek up at about 11:30am.

You can tell by the picture how poor the weather was. It was rainy and cold. However, for some reason we kept going. Through rain forest terrain, winding and snowy steps we climbed. The air was so much cleaner here, but you could also feel it getting thinner with every step. We climbed all day stopping only to rest and eat.


Climbing to the top of a mountain is something I've only seen in movies. This mountain, especially, with its religious significance and its meaning was special. Listening to the rain fall through the trees or the snow softly falling to the ground was amazing. I've never heard silence like that. It was the kind of experience that lends itself to inner-thinking and the probing of sensitive issues. The core ideals of Buddhism seem to be embodied here and they invade your thoughts. The sense of solitude you feel while making this journey is immense. It's easy to see why millions of people trek up Emei Shan in search of peace, enlightenment, or some form of a God.

By about 8:30 that night we almost reached the summit. We were two hours shy of it, so we spent the night on the mountain. It was not in a Buddhist monastery like I had envisioned, but at this point during the hike any type of bed would have sufficed. In order to rise at 4am the next morning, we were in bed quickly. We hiked the rest of the way in the dark to watch the sunrise from the summit.



The sun creeped over the clouds quickly illuminating everything. Watching this event made everything I had just done, worth it. We finally reached the summit after watching the sunrise. Every muscle in my body ached, I was tired and hungry but, my spirits were high. Then we finally saw what was at the top of the mountain:


Seeing this magnificent gold monument built to honor the Buddha and his many manifestations was humbling and fulfilling at the same time. It was rewarding on a physical, mental, and emotional level.

Peering over the edge and breathing in the crisp, clean air was a pleasure. It's hard to not be touched by this experience in a variety of ways. This journey calls for me to write eloquently, if not poetically, about what I've seen and done. However, I feel I could not do it justice. I've yet to ascertain what this all means to me. It's staggering and maintaining perspective has always been important to me. So, I'll save that for another time.

Upon returning to Chengdu, we experienced a lot more. One aspect being food. Chengdu is famous for its Huoguo, which is "Hotpot." Essentially, you have a big pot in the center of the table and you order meats and vegetables that you cook youself. Its absolutely delicious. As I mentioned before, Sichuan food is spicey and Huoguo is no exception. In fact, its the spicest of all of the Sichuan delicacies.


You can see all of the peppers and spices. It was so good and incredibly satisfying. A teacher took us out with her two friends. It was such a great dinner.


All in all, It was a lovely Spring Break and now back to school. I'm back in Beijing and classes resume on Monday. It'll be hard getting back into the swing of things, but I'll manage. We have three more weeks and then another break. This time its our decision to do what we'd like. Shanghai, anyone?

-Aaron