We woke up and took a bus to Tymitz Square. We got off at a street with a lot of shops and restaurants. We booked a hotel for the evening and poked around here for awhile. We got Beijing Roast Duck and shopped at the markets. We went to Tymitz later in the day, but unfortunately, the Forbidden City was closed (Forbidden to Us?). We went out to dinner with a group we had met and later we went to an internet bar to look at some flight information for heading back to our ship in Shanghai.
Beijing Day 2 (April 4)
We purchased a tour to visit the Great Wall and boarded a bus to get to the rendezvous spot. We first visited the tombs where the emperor was buried. The building we entered was a model of the Forbidden City so that the emperor can continue to live there in his next life. The emperor had 3000 wives or concubines and normally would have several of them poison themselves so that they can serve him in the next life.
We then stopped at a Jade Market where they showed us how to carve and shape the jade. Following this, we had dim sum lunch, which is when you pass the bowls around on a turning shelf.
We took a cable car up to see the Great Wall and got a chance to walk around there for awhile. The part of the Great Wall we were at was packed. Everyone was shoving and pushing and stopping for pictures. It was still awesome to be there nonetheless.
Following our Great Wall visit, we went to a tea house and got to sample a lot of different teas. That night, we went to the airport and flew out the next morning. The language barrier was so strong in Beijing that we had to draw an airplane to get to the airport.
This summary of China would not be complete without sharing my airport experience. We are still not sure what we got but Everett and I were very sick with food poisoning while we were at the airport. It put a damper on my impression of the Chinese people and my travels for the rest of the week. Because the Chinese culture puts a negative emphasis on shame, I found that the people there had a tendency to turn their heads to avoid looking at me instead of offering assistance. Ev and I did not eat any more Chinese food for the rest of the week.
Shanghai (April 5-7)
Shanghai is a very new city that has grown rapidly over the last couple decades. The name means “above the water” in Mandarin and it has the highest population density in China. I felt as if everything our tour guides talked about either meant lucky, happy, money or unlucky. She explained that the license plates with lucky numbers were more expensive than ones without or especially with unlucky numbers. These superstitions however are primarily held by the older generation.
The entire city is almost apartments because it has to house so many people. There are 2 types of apartments in Shanghai. The modern ones that we are accustomed to and the more traditional ones that are smaller, have less floors and do not have a bathroom available at night. During the night they use “honey pots” which are kept in their room.
I learned that if two only children get married they are permitted to have another child. Otherwise they would have to pay 30 thousand to have another baby.
