China--Beijing

I have always wanted to go to China, but Don always said he would never.  So when my sister Carol invited me to go with her, I did not hesitate.  I spent a few days in Oregon with her and also our cousin Ruth.  Flying into Portland is always fun when Mt. Hood suddenly appears alongside the plane instead of below like most mountains.

China 

Someone asked me, "Why do you want to go to China?  Don't you know they hate us there?"  They don't.  Everyone we met was gracious. "They are a grim, communist country."  Maybe, but the people are also friendly, funny, and ready to enjoy life.  Our guides had us laughing at themselves as communist Chinese, at ourselves as tourists, and at life itself.  People are not so different, after all.  Example:  Brian, our Beijing guide alerted us that the Chinese might ask us to pose for a picture with them.  They privately call these "big nose pictures," but they really enjoy posing with visitors.  Carol and I were asked a number of times.  This group was delighted that we were sisters and they were sisters too.

People also said they have toilets that are just a hole in the ground.  Well, they do have porcelain around the hole.  We would all stand in line for the one or two western toilets, although a few brave women did use the squatty potties.

China offers surprises at every turn--exploding economy, and endless modern high rise buildings in a huge land with one of the world’s oldest and most advanced ancient civilizations.  The Chinese invented things hundreds of years before Europe had similar ideas:  iron and steel smelting, paper and movable type printing, the compass, the clock, gunpowder.    

Under Mao Tse Tung in the 1950’s and 60’s, people were encouraged to have many children.  When the population reached unmanageable levels, the one child policy was introduced in 1978.  It is a standard, accepted way of life, but there are exceptions.  If you are rich enough to pay the fines, you can have a second baby.  The rule has been relaxed a bit so that a couple who are both only children may have a second child.  It is difficult for two only children to take care of four elderly parents later.  There is a stigma to shuffling grandparents away into a nursing home.  Children are expected to care for the elderly.  Then there are the DINKs—double income, no kids.  Enjoy life now.

Among China's 1.4 billion people, there are 56 different ethnicities; ancient Muslim Chinese and Jewish Chinese among them.  Mandarin is the official language and is taught in all schools.  (English is also taught throughout the school years.)  Cantonese and various dialects are spoken also, mainly in the southern parts, not Beijing.

China officially has freedom of religion now, although some intolerance still exists.  The four main ones are Buddhism, Daoism, Islam and Christianity.  We saw a couple of churches with crosses on top.  However only 10% of the people are religious.  More important is financial success.   China is a communist authoritarian country, but capitalism is encouraged.  

Beijing

We arrived in China after a five hour bus ride from Eugene, Oregon to Seattle and an 11 ½ hour flight to Beijing. Dinner upon arrival was served to eight or ten people seated at round tables with lazy susans quickly filled with big bowls of rice, stir fried meat and vegetable dishes of various combinations, Asian vegetable mixtures, and French fries as a nod to us being American—a pattern to be followed each lunch and dinner to come. Dessert was usually watermelon.  The daily hotel breakfast buffet had an enormous array of American breakfast foods and several counters full of Chinese foods.  All delicious.  Whoever said we would get sick of the food in China and not eat much does not know what they are talking about.

We hit the bed early each night exhausted.  Our 5 star hotel really is 5 star. Spacious, comfortable and lovely.

Beijing (meaning north capital) is the largest city in China in area, but second in population, 21 million.  North to south it is 110 miles, east to west, 100 miles. It has six ring roads, our bypass highways.  The second (33 kilometers around) is roughly where the old city wall used to stand.  The subway runs beneath it.  I have never seen so many high rises in my life.  They are endless. Nearly everyone lives in apartments, either rented or purchased.  Most old parts of the cities get torn down to make way for more high-rise buildings.

  

The first day we visited a jade factory where we saw the craftsmen carve the green jade from the mountains of northwest China and the white jade from the northeast area.  Yellow jade is the most rare and valuable and was incorporated into the Olympic medals for the 2008 games in Beijing. Jadeite is the most flawless, hard, and valuable and is used for jewelry.  Xiu is the light green jade which is the most popular and easier to carve. Jade also comes in lavender representing love.  Fake jade is clear when held to the light or has bubbles; real jade will have tiny fibrous or granular materials deep inside.  After the demonstrations, we could shop. Carol and I decided everything was too expensive.   She did buy something, not me.   Artisans are often a married couple. The man carves and the woman does the polishing.

Jade bangles are very popular and are worn on the left arm closer to the heart because jade symbolizes life and takes care of your heart. 

The happy family ball has layers inside carved loose from the outside, one more layer for each child.  The outside has the dragon (father) and Phoenix (mother) intertwined.  The 12 holes represent the 12 months.  It is displayed on a stand to keep the family safe.

We visited the tomb complex of the Ming dynasty emperors.  The 13 tombs are scattered around a large valley in the mountains as shown here by Brian, our charming, funny Beijing guide. 

The Chang tomb is the largest and most important.  Feng Shui orders the most important things be located on a straight axis with the entrance road and gates, so that is where the first Ming emperor Yongle arranged his tomb for himself, his Empress and his concubines as shown on the map.  

As always yellow was reserved for the emperor only, so the roofs here on the ceremonial buildings are yellow.  The actual grave has not been located.  In 1956 one other Ming grave here was excavated 27 meters below ground level.  The rest are left alone out of respect.   

Cloisonné is much more complicated than I ever expected.  Copper vessels are shaped and then fine wires are glued on to create the design.  Plaster enamel is mixed from sand, minerals and water—blue is the traditional color with red for happiness and green for long life.  Layers of paint are applied, then fired, then painted again, and so on until each piece is fired seven times.  Then it is polished with three successive grades of polishing blocks until smooth.  All this adds up to high quality artworks that can commands many thousand dollars for large pieces.  We bought a few beads.

We can't get these home in our suitcases.

The main bucket list event came the first afternoon—the Great Wall.  It was built over a period of 1700 years to defend against invaders, particularly the Mongols to the north.  The mountains north of Beijing average 700 meters high, the highest being 1700 meters, with the Wall meandering up and down along the ridges.  Beacon towers dot the Wall for ancient guards to signal the approach of invaders.  "He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man." (Mao Tse Tung). After a difficult climb, we qualify as true women and men.

We climbed many hundreds of steps.  The section we did at Juyongguan Pass was Jy Geu (meaning hats).  It was restored several times, so not a lot is original.  Still, it was one of those moments where Carol and I looked at each other and exclaimed, “We are actually on the Great Wall!!”  It winds and climbs a lot because to be a strong defense, it had to be on the tops of the mountains.  On the north side there was mostly forested mountain terrain.  Here the ancient wall section is visible below the reconstructed part.

A wall closed off one section where the portion through a deep ravine was not reconstructed.  We could see stone ruins on the next peak where the Wall used to go.  

Parts of the wall date back 2000 years.   It was over 4000 miles long when it was finished, beginning with earthen walls in the south built by the first Qin emperor to the strong stone walls in the north finally connected during the Ming Dynasty.  The wall has been called the longest cemetery in the world.  Many workers died during the construction, and many were buried in the wall, giving it a spiritual protection.

Quanjude is a famous 150 year old restaurant serving Peking duck among the best.  Our meal started like many others with a variety of vegetable and meat dishes.  The rich brown roasted ducks were carved near our tables. Thin slices were served with paper thin pancakes and a thick soy sauce to roll together.  Delicious.

We visited a pearl factory and learned how pearls are grown and valued.  Fresh water mollusks can have a number of pearls growing inside; Salt pearls grow singly in their mollusk.

We both were enchanted with the black pearls from South China and bought some jewelry.  Not cheap, but really lovely. 

                        

Lama Dom is a Tibetan and Mongolian sect of Buddhism.  The Lama Temple was originally the home of the son of the second emperor of the Ching Dynasty (1644-1911) emperor, 300 years ago.  On becoming emperor, he moved to the Forbidden City.  When he died, his son turned the complex into a temple.  During the Cultural Revolution, the Red Guard destroyed many temples, but this one survived.  When the Dalai Lama visits Beijing, he stays here. 

The temple complex consists of five halls built on the center axis. Side buildings line the way.   This is still a popular place for people to pray and burn incense in front of each hall.

The first hall contains a large laughing Buddha to welcome people in.  The second hall has a statue of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism in India.  The third has statues to longevity, pharmacy and the roaring lion.  The fourth is the largest hall and served as a study center for the monks.  The fifth hall is the tallest and houses the largest wooden Buddha in the world.  It was carved from a single, huge sandalwood tree from Nepal.  The standing Buddha rises 18 meters above the floor with eight meters below ground to stabilize it. 

Unfortunately we had rain the first two days for the most special parts of Beijing—the Wall and then the Forbidden City the second day. 

The Summer Palace of the Ching Dynasty Emperors is an idyllic spot where they and their entourage would spend the summers.  A man-made lake is ringed by steep hills and gardens with peach, crab apple, magnolia, and weeping willow trees.  The complex was built during the Ching dynasty (the last one) and burned by the French during the opium wars.  The Dowager Empress rebuilt the garden as it is today.  Then common people were not allowed in, but now it is a popular public park.

Tiananmen Square is one of the largest squares in the world.  

Now Chairman Mao Tse Tung’s large mausoleum stands in it.

On one side is the national Museum.  On another is the Great Hall of the people, Parliament.  People can vote, but there is only one party, the Communist Party.  The monument for Heroes commemorates all those who have fought for China, whether for the communists or not.

National Day, October 1^st, would be celebrated the next day, so the square was decorated with amazing flower displays and live sculptures. 

The Great Wall recreated in green plants was our favorite.  

The city gate to the Forbidden City now has Chairman Mao’s picture displayed.

We had watched “The Last Emperor” and were enthralled with the Forbidden City and its history.   The Empress Dowager controlled the empire from 1860 to 1908 when just before her death, she chose the previous emperor’s nephew to take the throne at the age of three.  She was often called the dragon lady, the dragon being a symbol of the emperor or just of man.  She truly was the power behind the throne.   

The home of the emperors was strictly guarded and forbidden to anyone other than the emperor and those who did business with him.  The Forbidden City is a huge walled complex with 999 rooms among all the buildings. From the north gate to south is 900 meters across; east to west is 700 meters.  Built by the Ming Dynasty, it was constructed from 1406 to 1420, and 24 emperors lived here.  The court was divided into two areas—the business area to the south nearer the main gate.  On the axis was the throne room where the emperor met with officials and carried out the business of ruling the empire, with auxiliary offices at the sides.

Behind the public buildings were residences of the emperor and empress and concubines, with the emperor’s home on the axis. 

The ancients were deep into symbolism.  Only the Emperor could wear or use the color yellow.  The dragon meant the emperor, the Phoenix was for the Empress.  The number nine was the ultimate and used often for the emperor.  The nine sons of the dragon could be portrayed only on the most important buildings of the Emperor.  Minor buildings could display five or seven sons of the dragon.  Main buildings in any complex are arranged along the axis, the straight line in from the main entrance.  Those to the sides are less important.

The emperor was said to have 3000 concubines.  That expression meant only a lot.  The empress and concubines were chosen from girls aged 13 to 17 of royal families.  When the emperor married, the bridal couple spent three days in the wedding building; then she moved to the empress’ house and came to him when summoned.  Boys aged 3 to 5 from poor families were offered to become eunuchs as a way to improve the family fortunes.  Eunuchs ran the palace.

The emperor’s garden featured a huge deeply fissured rock from Tai (or Toi) Lake.  A door led to a passage to the top where the emperor had a small building to relax in his garden.

The moat and watch towers surrounding the Forbidden City,

China’s version of communism is to embrace capitalism. 

Retirement age is 60 for men and 55 for women.  People who worked for the government get a pension and free health care.  Those not working for the government must pay for health insurance during their working years.  If not used, the money becomes a retirement pension.  Western type medical care is covered by insurance; most herbal and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is not. 

We visited the oldest, most respected Chinese pharmacy, Tong Ren Rang, established in 1669.  They now have a major research facility and branches all over China and the world.  Here well-trained doctors of TCM diagnose conditions by analyzing one’s pulse, tongue, eyes and so on.  They deduce health conditions from 28 aspects of the pulse.  Then the doctors prescribe herbal medicines for prevention and wellness.

The Hutong is an area where old Beijing has been allowed to stand untouched while most of the old city has been demolished to make way for more high rise apartments and office buildings.  Residents usually have lived there for generations and appear poor.  The Hutong is dirty, trashy and unkempt.  Most houses need repair, but they are not allowed to paint or fix up the outsides of houses; all must look old.  The properties are worth a million or more dollars, but who can pay that to live in a poor neighborhood?  Houses have a sink for washing, but no toilets or showers.  Everyone must use the neighborhood facilities.  Courtyards are shared by several families.  Neighbors are close and friendly.

We had a tour and typical home style lunch at the home of a man who does well serving tourists almost daily.  His meal was delicious.

He keeps crickets in cages for their "music."

Then we had a bicycle rickshaw ride through the Hutong, pursued by vendors.  We enjoyed the taste of the real Beijing.

The Temple of Heaven was built during the Ming Dynasty with no nails or cement. The main temple has a blue roof to represent heaven, and it was used to pray for good harvest.  It was the only building in old China with three levels.  All others had one or two.

The grounds are now a popular park where people do tai chi, exercise on adult equipment, dance, play cards and stroll about.

We ended our time in Beijing with a visit to the Peking Opera.  We did not care for the singing, but the costumes and choreography were spectacular.