On Saturday, 3/29 we went to the Summer Palace and it is one of the coolest places I’ve ever been (tied with Cerro Chirripo in Costa Rica). Construction started in the Qing Dynasty (1750 to be exact) and it was first designed to be a place for royalty to come and relax and entertain and then became a place where the royal family actually lived.
Four of us Teaching Fellows, together in China! My good friends for four years now :)
This is a river that you can take a boat down, or you can walk along the narrow walkway and go to the different shops. I win the "Tourist of the Day" award! I bought the most souvenirs of anyone, but everything was so pretty and soooo cheap!
One of the shops
A stone lion on the bridge
View of the shops from the bridge
Me on the bridge
Look at that beautiful roof!!!
So most (if not all) of the old buildings in China have animals on the corners of the roofs. You can tell how important/ornate a building (and the business done inside) is by counting the number of animals on one of the corners. The maximum number of animals is 9, or 10 if you count the man on the phoenix (we saw buildings with 10 in the Forbidden City) and, from my understanding, you start counting with the phoenix with the man riding it until the last animal before the dragon. According to something I read online, the position of the animals is an implicit warning that if you do not do your duty, you are in a precarious position, because not only are you on the edge of the roof, but you also have several animals lined up in pounce-position to get you if you do not do your duty. That makes sense because the more important your duties are in the building, the more animals there are on the roof, which means the punishment is more severe. Generally, things are more subtle/implicit in China. This is a subtle indication of importance, not as in-your-face as some other cultures (the impression that the Chinese have of American culture, according to Chinese people I have spoken with here).
Another view of the roof with the animals
One of the Buddhist temples here. Look at all of those little Buddhas!
An up-close view of one of the hundreds/thousands of Buddhas on the building I just showed you. Imagine how much work went into designing and making all of these buildings!!
This is the longest corridor in the world! It's in the Guinness Book of World Records!
The ornate roof in the corridor
This is the boat we rode in around the lake. So this lake is man-made, which is really impressive because it's huge! I was told that all of the dirt that was dug up was mounded up to form a mountain (and I assume that it's the mountain where one of the Buddhist temples is). I'll show you that in a minute.
And there it is!
The roof of the boat. How pretty!
This is a very famous bridge. It is called the "Seventeen Arch Bridge" and there are 544 lions on the railing, each in a different position! It was built during the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799).
This is one of the lions. It's a male lion because it has its paw over a sphere. You can tell that it's a female lion if it has its paw over its cub.
Me with one of the lions with the Buddhist temple in the background. See that red silk purse in my bag? Yeah, 5 bucks! I bought 3...
A beautiful stone depiction of a dragon and a phoenix. When together, the dragon often symbolizes the emperor and the phoenix symbolizes the empress. I read that when the dragon and phoenix are depicted together, it is a form of yin yang, harmony between the powerful dragon and the virtuous phoenix.
Do you remember how to tell what the gender of the lion is? Think back to the lions on the Seventeen Arch Bridge!
We got to see a brief opera show! This is actually a man playing a woman's role. We were all staring at this person, trying to figure out the gender so I asked one of the Chinese teachers that was with us. She said that sometimes men play women's roles and women play men's roles because if they can successfully play the other gender's part, it shows that they are really talented actors/actresses. It's easier to play your own role than another's.
The opera building
The garden and river
I believe this is a variety of cherry blossom
How's that for a doorknob?!
One of the Buddhist temples
Me at the Buddhist temple
Ok so I find this really funny/sad... after a wonderful day of learning about Chinese culture, seeing amazing, world-renowned architecture, taking great pictures, and finding some bargains, what could a tourist possibly have to complain about?! I mean really!! But apparently it's a big enough thing to have a tourist complaint hotline and a box office... Well this was my favorite day in China so far, the views and architecture were just breathtaking. My next post will be about the school day, pictures of the school, and food! Stay tuned!
This is amazing stuff! I'm learning so much about Chinese culture from you!
Reply
Kallie
4/13/2014 01:26:34 pm
Yay! I'm so glad to hear it! :)
Reply
Jonathon
4/6/2014 01:23:02 am
Seems like you are having a wonderful time, Kallie! Glad you are making the most of this experience! Look at you stepping out of your comfort zone. Keep it coming because I'm enjoying reading about your trip. Tell everyone I say hello please! :)
Reply
Kallie
4/13/2014 01:28:40 pm
Thanks Jonathon! I'll tell the TFs you said hi. One of the students that went with us to the Great Wall still remembers Assir! Tell him if you see him :)
Reply
Karen
4/6/2014 02:46:01 am
So, what does that tourist complaint office tell you about the products, practices, and perspectives of the Chinese culture?
Reply
Kallie
4/13/2014 02:16:13 pm
Hmm making me think! :)
Products: They're willing to change their products in order to please their guests (less/more vendors, bathrooms, and even a place to house these complaints)
Practices: They take tourist's feedback seriously and aim to improve what they can to make the experience more enjoyable for future guests.
Perspectives: They want to share their culture with tourists and want us to have an enjoyable experience.
Although... my dad played devil's advocate and said that maybe rather than being a place for tourists to complain, it's really an office to complain ABOUT tourists :)
Reply
Uncle Perry
4/14/2014 08:36:53 am
Great pictures, personal perspective, narration, and a few more positive adjectives I don't know!
The resolution and focus of these pictures are excellent, what camera are you using? Do you create your journal in word (with pictures and subtitles) then post to the blog?
Your spiritual observations brought up a well of emotion (Part One). Not only your spiritual sense but also the correlation to Christian History in the writing characters. I watched a television program which linked ancient pyramids on continents all over the world. They build a case for ancient alien visits. Could it not be a case for Gen 11:9?
One of the storefronts appears to have a continuous carving laid into the facia. I wonder, was it carved wood or cast clay like the Buddhas?
The roof tops and ridges with animals, are these a cast stone product? The roofs themselves appear to be clay tile with mortar, I'm curious about the age of some of these structures. I agree, from a craftsman perspective, the skilled effort in detail is overwhelming. It's beautiful, maybe irreplaceable and almost exhaustive.
This is a great presentation and documentary. Do you have a means to backup your work in this blog or how is it archived?
Reply
Leave a Reply.
Author
My name is Kalavik (Kallie) McNamara and I'm student teaching in Beijing, China for 5 weeks. I'm working to earn licensure to teach Spanish but I will be teaching English here in China! I'm excited to learn about the Chinese culture and the differences and similarities in how education is viewed and carried out.