By Ralph Parcon
“Wo shi bei jing ren”- that is Chinese for “I am a Beijinger”, which was who I felt like I was during my three nights in Beijing.
It was one city that the short-term study abroad program for China would be visiting. The other two cities would be Xi’an (home of the famous terracotta warriors), and Shanghai (the economic hub of China and home of the oriental pearl TV Tower).
Focusing on Beijing, to start off, the first night there we mainly walked through a pedestrian mall near our hotel called “Wangfujing”. We also rode the Beijing subway to explore the generations of subway stations and to witness local Beijingers during the night. This was courtesy of Professor Yijun Gao, one of the trip’s directors and a Beijing native.
The first full day was when we visited the famed Tiananmen Square, home to sites such as the Chinese National Legislature, Mao Zedong’s mausoleum, and the famous Forbidden City. The walk through the Forbidden City was the main event of the day, and it was surreal for me to be walking past the city’s southern gate where the famed portrait of Chairman Mao stands facing Chang’an Avenue and Tiananmen Square. We didn’t get to see many of the rooms within the city, but it was a fun experience for me. I also learned that the military policemen in green uniforms who stand guard in Tiananmen Square and within the gates of the Forbidden City have their barracks within the site.
After eating lunch, we went to a local university named Beijing Union University to interact with local students and to see what university life in China is like. I noticed that physical education is a requirement for students, and their PE classes resemble military cadet training, with the students having to wear military-style uniforms. I would guess that PE class being taught this way is to instill discipline within the students. Some of the guys in the group and I also decided to take another nighttime adventure with Yijun, this time trying out a local restaurant where they served a very interesting serving of soup with pork intestines and livers. The three other guys could not stomach it, but I found it both exotic and tasty.
The second day was when we went to the Great Wall. It was amazing to be walking through the wall and getting to see the insides of the soldiers’ quarters, the guard towers, and seeing the scenic mountains of northern China. However, I will say that it was tiring to climb up and down the steps of the wall, and would also mention that the main way to get up to the top of the wall is by a cable car. The cable car is an open-air ride.
We finished up our time in Beijing with a nighttime visit to the northern gate of the forbidden city, where the lighting of the buildings made for a beautiful scene at night. We also took a trip the next morning to the Temple of Heaven, where the Ming and Qing emperors would pray for a good harvest and where animal sacrifices were made.
Overall, my time in Beijing was a unique experience and is something that I will always remember fondly. It was awesome to not only visit these world-famous landmarks of China but also to take a look at another country’s society and to see the ways where they share similarities and differences with our own.
