May 18, 2009
Day Seventeen - Culture Zoo & Traditional Kung Fu
Today we had a morning and afternoon class lined up for us; the morning class was given by a Chinese professor, who spoke on China's legal environment. My attention spanned the entire first hour and a half of the lecture, but after we took a break and resumed, I got lost in sketching. The top portion of my notes turned into a royal palace. I could tell the rest of the class was also not feeling it, as the lecturer did not make many ties between business and law. I managed to snap back into it towards the end, before another lunch at Yan.
While at Yan, a few of us made rough plans to go see the China Nationalities Park (or Minority Culture Park, as we like to call it), and make it back in time for a Martial Arts performance at the Red Theater! Brad had just mentioned this morning that it was last-minute notice, but that we had tickets to the show tonight. We decided to take a cab from the park and go straight to the performance.
The Culture Park was very beautiful, and very empty. We were literally the only people there, other than the kiosk vendors who were selling us things, who we ran into an our later at a different end of the park. We couldn't understand why nobody was around - it was only 4:30pm and the park stays open until 7. There was one time when we got to a site at the end of a small performance (which we missed), so I snapped a quick picture with a person in costume. We were told that the entire park should be filled with people in costume, replicating different ceremonies that the minority groups in China would practice. Unfortunately that didn't happen for us, so we spent the afternoon roaming around, stepping into various thatched huts, and taking in the scenery. It was a gorgeous day for photography.
We allowed an hour to hail a taxi and get to the Red Theater. At ten-to-seven, the cab driver had to pull over and ask someone directions, which was a bad sign. I was pretty set on seeing some extreme martial arts and practically wanted to run out of the cab and find the theater myself. Luckily, as we pulled back onto the road, I spotted the theater on the left! We saw June, one of our tour guides we know and love, and she waved us over and told us that we were the first group to arrive (it felt a lot like the Amazing Race), and that the show actually started at 7:30 but she told everyone 7 because she wanted us to make it there in time (tricky, but perfect). We walked around to look for some food and ended up in a market which housed lots of potato chips and fellow members of the China trip!
Once inside, everything was RED - they weren't kidding by calling it the Red Theater. We took our seats and the show started promptly. I was entirely blown away from scene one; the show reminded me of China's version of Broadway in the way that it was themed as Martial Arts but also had a story line and incredible choreography that demanded attention. The story was about a young boy who had to leave the comfort of his family to become a master of Martial Arts. It was also about the overall goal to reach a higher level of Self-Realization through the release of the ego and the mastery of one's body, mind, and spirit. It was beautiful. I tried to sneak a couple of photos - while doing so I got struck by a guard's laser pointer (haha), so I had to stop.
We rode the bus back to the hotel and rested up for a little while, in preparation to go out for Shreyance's birthday! We ended up going to Lush, a local place about a couple of blocks from our hotel. Thus, today my dinner consisted of potato chips, some of Annie's french fries, and a pina colada - a large step forward from the Clif bar.
Tomorrow we have a day of sight-seeing planned!
Miss you,
Karen
Posted by rockwood at 07:41 PM | Comments (1)
Day Sixteen - Panels & Chanels
This morning we were back in class at Tsinghua, which began with our project team presentations on Wal-mart vs. Carrefour in their corporate strategies for their presence in China. I was impressed by all of the groups' excellent concepts and presentation skills, as I often forget that we're all in Business school together instead of at summer camp. Brad wrapped up the class soon after the presentations and we were free until 3PM. I took a walk in search of a milkshake to complement my Luna bar (lunch was pre-ordered KFC) and wound up at the Charlie Brown Cafe. It was the first time I had gone somewhere on my own while in Beijing, and it was kind of a nice experience, as I felt more integrated in the city as if I actually lived in China. On the way there I stopped to by an authentic, chunky, colorful necklace, which I got for 10 RMB (or ~1.5 dollars, which is amazing!). The woman I bought it from said the symbol on the pendent meant "prayer." I did some coursepack reading in the cafe and then headed back to the hotel to get ready to leave with the group.
It took us about an hour to get to the largest shopping mall in Asia, which was close to the location of our Alumni Panel. we browsed around the mall for a little while and noticed the upper-class face of China that we had not previously been exposed to. The income-gap situation is a real eye-opener. The mall was gigantic and super upscale, lined with Chanel, Gucci, the works. It barely looked like we were in China, which we didn't really care for. Katie and I gravitated towards Starbucks and chatted it up for a while, as others from the group passed by and mingled. We then all colluded to go to the Alumni Panel.
The Panel consisted of UofM alums - all of which had their MBA from Ross. There were representitives from Intel, Amazon, a private equity firm, and an investment bank. It was interesting to hear about their experiences, as they have been active in the business world in both America and in China. Post-panel, we stopped at the nearest McDonalds (double cheeseburger, no bun, and fries) and got back on the bus to the Wenjin. I have never been so excited for a bag of hot, fast-food in my entire life.
Only one more "business week" left in China, :(
Karen
Posted by rockwood at 01:23 PM | Comments (0)
May 17, 2009
Day Fifteen - Wall Biking & Terra Cotta Fighting
I slept surprisingly well, considering the poor air quality and poor mattress, and woke up in time to stop by the hotel breakfast area. After a couple cups of coffee, we all boarded the bus towards our first destination: the Xi'an City Wall. It was a cute, antique-ish wall that used to be surrounded by a functioning moat and an operating drawbridge. We walked "inside" and posed for a couple of pictures with some men dressed as warriors (I wasn't sure why they were wearing those outfits, actually). All of us rented out bikes to bike the circumference of the city wall! I was hesitant at first, as I haven't ridden since 7th grade and am not an experienced biker in the least. I gave in when I was encouraged to ride a two-person bike, so Anup and I rented one out and started the journey.
The biking was slightly strenuous (as Anup often forgot to pedal since I was sitting in the back and he was joyriding intermittently) and slightly scary; at some points along the wall there were connector areas with stairs leading down to the next segment. All of them had a ramp at some part of the stairs, but you couldn't tell the ramp area apart from the stairs until you were 3 feet away from them. we also noticed some ramps that led all the way down to a pair of closed doors, while others lead to a construction pit, which we decided was the burial grounds for the "stupid Americans." Luckily, we finished unscathed. Some other people experienced interference with go-karts, while others suffered a flat tire. Anup and I yelled out "Ni Hao" to every Chinese passer-by, including construction workers on roofttops. We got some pretty enthusiastic responses. It was a fun, unique experience - I'm glad I pushed aside my mild biking fear for it.
We rested for a little while after the biking, got back on the bus, and went to our next site: the remains of a 6,000 year-old village (or "willage," as Gao says). At first I thought the site was relatively interesting, as it was cool to see how these people lived and to learn about their habits, burial practices (which we saw a little too much of once we got to the next room which showcased skeletons), etc. But after a while I was getting worried about the limited time we would have at the Terra Cotta Warriors exhibit, which was the main attraction of our trip to Xi'an. We broke for lunch (everyone was starving) at another lazy-susan style restaurant as common in Beijing. They actually had a lot that I could eat that time, so I was pretty satisfied. We got ice cream from the vendor outside and went back on the bus, excited for the Terra Cotta Warriors.
Here is an excerpt from JM's blog entry, as he did an excellent job narrating the Terra Cotta Warriors history bit:
"The museum for the terra cotta warriors was only about 10 minutes from where we ate lunch. The tomb is a national museum and it was obvious by the sheer size of the place. There was an entire village before we even entered the grounds for the museum, complete with shopping areas, a bank, and KFC. Once we were inside, we had to walk through gardens that they built specifically for tourists to walk through before we came to the main museum grounds. The museum is divided into different excavation pits. However, before we went into the different sites, we watched a video on the Emperor who built the tomb. The Emperor was the first to unify China in 221 B.C. and thus spent lavishly on his tomb that he believed would provided him all the things he would need in the after life. The tomb is the biggest in the world and it was started when he was 13 years old. It took 730,000 people 38 years to complete and the Emperor actually died while inspecting the tomb. After watching the video, we proceeded to Pit 1.
Pit 1 is definitely the most impressive site. They had excavated 6,000 warriors, which were all erected in battle formation. The sheer size of the place and the fact that they had only excavated ¼ of the soldiers from this location was hard to grasp. After Pit 1, we walked out the back door to Pit 2 and Pit 3. Both 2 and 3 were very similar. They had erected less of the statues and there was more rubble around the sites. Also, Pit 3 was an ongoing excavation so there were places where it was covered with plastic wrap. It was interesting seeing this tomb and trying to understand how/why they would have built it. We were asking about the actual tomb of the Emperor and why it hadn’t been excavated yet. There were a couple reasons that it was still underground, these reasons included the fact that it was surrounded by underground moats, contained a considerable amount of mercury, and was also 56 meters underground. She did say however, that the tomb contained a considerable amount of treasurer and also included the remains of the 3,000 concubines the Emperor had in his palace. The tour guide explained that the Emperor slept with a different woman every night, which resulted in him having a considerable amount of children. However, he only thought the first son was important and in his will he told the rest of the children to commit suicide, which they did and were then buried within the tomb. Seeing the terra cotta warriors was definitely an awe inspiring experience and one that made the trip to Xian worth it."
It was so incredible to see these warriors in actuality, as I remember reading about them in past World History classes and seeing photos of them in verious textbooks. I loved how each had a different face and 'personality,' along with different heights, resembling unique individuals. I really wish that we had more time, especially in Pit 1, as I would have loved to stay there longer and stare, in awe, at the thousands of Terra Cotta men.
We went straight to the airport, said goodbye to Gao, and ate in a restaurant inside. A bowl of rice later, I went to scope out a good cup of coffee - which I couldn't find for less than 60 RMB, which is unheard of! (That's ~8 dollars) I made a list of a couple of things I needed to see/purchase before leaving China (it's crazy to think that the end is near), and then boarded the plane back to Beijing. Luckily, the flight was smoother this time! I was so happy to be back at the Wenjin - I think we all missed our sun-drenched rooms and ridiculously comfortable beds. Tomorrow consists of 2 classes and minimal free time. But on Tuesday some of us are going to the Chinese National Cultural Park!
Miss you,
Karen
P.S. HAPPY GRADUATION DAVE! Wish I could be there! lovelovelove
Posted by rockwood at 12:41 PM | Comments (0)
May 16, 2009
Day Fourteen - Side-trip to Xi'an
[Since my BlogSpot blog is being blocked by the Chinese Firewall, and I can't seem to make those proxy's work for me, this is where my posts will be located temporarily.]
My day started at 4:30AM. I had signed up for the optional weekend trip to Xi'an, motivated by the thought of being able to see the Terra Cotta Soldiers from the Qing Dynasty. About 24 of us went, and it resulted in a pretty unique experience overall.
We boarded the bus and head out to the airport. Once there, we handed our passports to Don, the "group leader" for the trip, while Anup realized he forgot his passport in the hotel room. Don managed to put him on the next flight, so we got on the plane as a group of 23. We flew China Eastern on an unusually large plane for an under-two-hour flight. The service was unexpected as well - they even served breakfast and had excellent coffee. However, we ran into really extreme turbulance. It literally felt like a rollercoaster in the air...so that had us all a little bit rattled.
Once in Xi'an, we had a bus, equipped with our tour guide, Gao, awaiting our arrival. The bus immediately took us to our first site, which was the remains of an underground "imperial village." We were required to cover our sneakers with blue plastic bag-like shoe coverings before entering...which we concluded must have been for sheer entertainment for the workers and locals. The museum was pretty exciting - it was dark inside showcasing the burial grounds of the first emperor of the Han Dyanasy, which consisted of rectangular pits surrounding the tomb. The pits were filled with mini terra cotta soldiers, pots, cavalry, chariots, utensils (all handmade from natural materials)- everything the Emperor would need in the afterlife. Outside of the main exibition they had showcases of the smaller objects; some of them were handcrafted to be as small as a couple of centimeters long! I loved it.
Inside the museum there was an informational video, which I expected to be as informative as any other...but instead it was an inconcievable three-dimensional illusionary video. It literally looked like there were tiny people on the stage. I think I focused all my attention on figuring out how the video worked instead of listening to the audio headset.
We headed to downtown Xi'an, which was a lot more developed and expansive than I had imagined it to be. We drove past a few impovershed streets, followed by an affluent shopping mall and assorted complexes, reinforcing the concept of the Chinese income-gap, as we went to check into our hotel. Speaking of income-gap, our hotel was located at the end of a shady alleyway (The Bell and Drum Tower Hotel. It was located in-between the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower). Apparently it was a "three star hotel." Hardly. We were uncomfortable even sitting on the beds in our rooms (they were rock-solid but springy with dingy sheets). The bathroom wasn't much better, but the hotel's location was fantastic. Katie went to take a shower before we went out to the next museum and said that the waterflow reminded her of the hoses the locals use to water the grass. At least our water didn't get rusty like some other people's...
The next stop on our full-fledged tour was a Tibetan Buddhist Temple. It showed some similarities to the Lama temple I visited last week, except this one was a lot smaller and consisted of the types of Buddha statues that I am more familiar with. I took lots of pictures, of course. I got separated from the group for a few minutes and wandered through the small garden, which consisted of statues, engraved stones with inspirational sayings, and people relaxing in the Temple grounds. I even spotted a group of monks as they entered into a distant room. As we were leaving we saw them board a similar tour bus. The "Monk Bus," we called it. I loved the visual juxtaposition.
We then went to a Confucious Temple, which was filled with intricate stone tablet teachings in forms that were much different from the tablets Eric and I had seen at the Confucious Temple last week. These tablets housed the original "book" of Confucious, in which students had to visit to check their written notes against the original text in order to prevent errors in their curriculum. There were even tablets that had carved pictures, along with others that contained the older style of Chinese writing: written from top to bottom and read right to left. There was also a small garden in the central location of the temple that was surrounded by watercolor art. I loved the traditional Chinese style of the paintings, and took pictures of a lot of them with hopes of being able to replicate that style at least once this summer. Watercolor is definately more difficult than it looks.
We had dinner at a "hot pot" restaurant near-by, which is similar to the Melting Pot, except everyone sits at a round table with a Lazy Susan, and everyone has their own cooking pot. Oh and the service is not as good. I was really excited to be able to participate in a meal...I asked a waitress for a pot of just boiling water and made some rice noodles with tofu and egg. Finally a break from Clif bars...
After dinner we went straight to "bar street" to scope out the scene - which was gorgeous. I kept stopping to take pictures of the street, and people kept worrying that I fell too far behind. haha. The street was paved with cobblestone and draped in bright lights and charmed with light music streaming from each of the bar/coffee shops. We ended up roaming around for a while until finally settling down at an outdoor table. I tried some "Great Wall Wine," which I thought was both funny and surprisingly delicious, though over-priced and under-filled. After a little while, some of us left holding hands and walking down the street and stumbled upon a lively night market. The streets were filled with vendors, all of which were selling unique items. We found a vendor selling straw shoes, which we had heard was common in Xi'an. Eric actually bought a pair, though they were pretty uncomfortable. Some others bought a couple of trinkets (I think I have accumulated enough by now) and we wrapped up the night in a McDonalds. For some reason they ran out of ice cream (although they are open 24/7) so I settled for fries.
After a little while, Katie and I agreed that we were finally tired enough to mildy desire to go back to our hotel (upon seeing it and leaving the room for the first time, I told her that I didn't want to come back to the room until I was tired enough to WANT to be there haha), so we got ready to go to bed and fell asleep mid-conversation.
Love,
Karen
Posted by rockwood at 11:25 AM | Comments (1)
