May 17

This morning we traveled to the center of Beijing to visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The crowds were so dense that even Chelsey and Matt who have frequented the Minnesota State Fair which is famous for large crowds, were amazed by the number of people. Since it would be easy for the group to be swept away by the mass of people, our guide Michelle, reminded us that we needed to stay together like "sticky rice." We followed a flag she carried and then Jordan, one of the seminar leaders, attached a large flower to his bag for us to find our group. We were impressed by the number of Chinese people who were visiting the site. Michelle told us that many of these people were visiting the square and city for the first time.

In class were learned about the political protests that took place in 1989. However, Michelle warned us that in Beijing they want to put this event behind them. So she said we were not allowed to talk or ask about it while we were there.  The square and the city were magnificent and full of old history. Michelle explained that all of the artifacts in the city were all original pieces of jade, gold, silver, flowers, and enamel. Michelle also explained that there are over 900,000 treasures, but only 10,000 -20,000 of them are available for the public to see. We have all heard about the impressiveness of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden city, but not until you see it, can you really understand the magnificence of its beauty.

This visit involved much walking and with as warm as it was today, we were very ready to get on the bus and have water. Following this visit, we took part in a traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony. We watched as Chinese women prepared the tea and had a chance to smell and sample each kind. We tried six categories of tea: green, white, black, yellow, flower, and oolong. We learned proper Chinese etiquette for holding the glass and were told to drink each of our small cups in 3 sips. Each category has a special purpose. For example, oolong is believed to help regain energy while black tea is supposed to cure beer belly and constipation. Many of us enjoyed the tea so much that we purchased several varieties to bring home.

For lunch we went to a local Chinese restaurant for noodles that were highly recommended by Michelle. The meal was a hit with a majority of the group. Following this meal, we visited the Hoch Ung area and rode on "rickshaws", which are basically a cart attached to a bicycle that seated two. The ride gave us a new perspective of the culture in China. The highlight was being welcomed into the home of a local Hoch Ung family. The woman of the family proudly shared with us the history of her 200-year-old home which has been in the family for four generations.  This area has a vast array of economic worth.  One home in particular which was one of only a few owned by the family rather than the Chinese government was valued at $40,000 per square meter. This home, located on the "dragon line" which we learned runs through the center of Beijing, was worth millions of US dollars. By contrast, many other homes in the area had two rooms and several homes shared a communal bath facility.  We were all impressed when the woman of the home, her daughter, and Michelle all played the Gu Zheng, an ancient string instrument.

P.S. We only experienced one minor hiccup throughout this day when Kyle, Stetson, and Matt were late to the bus after stopping at the Olympic Boulevard. However, thanks to their hustle back to the bus they were only 15 minutes late after touring the Bird Nest from the 2008 Olympics. We still had time to go to a Silk Factory and see how silk is made and had the chance to purchase some genuine silk items.

Submitted by Chelsey, Michelle and Matt