[ Vicki ] After being awoken in the warm hotel rooms which had heating turned higher than ever, we were knocked by the contrasting cold, sharp, chilled air outside. As the sun had risen, we could see the sky which was surprisingly blue and clear, showing how pollution levels differ in China as in Chengdu, we had “peasoup fog” that blurred out the tops of buildings. In Beijing, the sunny sky gave the illusion of warm weather but the cold air froze us to our bones. Thankfully, we very obedient children agreed to the “four layers” suggestion (rule).
Walking on the grounds of Tiananmen Square, there were mixed emotions. There were many people, mostly tour groups, proudly taking group photos. Some patriotic people stood tall and respectfully as they looked up at the picture of Mao Zedong. They were happy as they were proud of the history and monumental changes that this place made on China, while others were less joyous as Tiananmen Square is a place of protest. It was amazing to visit this famous area that we had all seen countless times only in photos and through screens where we could not feel the broad grounds and rare emotions in the environment.
At the Beijing National Capital Museum, we had an amazing opportunity to see the 120,000 sacred cultural relics including Chinese bronze, ceramics, paintings and calligraphy. Some of us were fully intrigued and fascinated at the rare proofs of history, reading the meaningful descriptions while taking mindful notes and being emotionally invested in every detail. However, others simply found it as a time to twiddle their thumbs and frolic in the fields!
[ Ewan ] After our (very short) visit to the museum, our group immediately turned its sights to another major and obvious structure visible straight across from Tiananmen Square: the Forbidden City. With the cold air surrounding us, but our many layers keeping us warm (to an extent), we entered the Forbidden City through the huge archways. The next several hours were spent walking through the many courtyards, taking countless pictures and listening to our tour guide’s explanations of the city’s layout, construction and purpose. We stopped afterwards to briefly have lunch, before climbing a nearby hill to get a higher view of both the Forbidden City and Beijing in general. After a short rest in our hotel rooms, we set out once again. This time, we went to watch a famous Chinese acrobat show. The show wasn’t exactly very long, but it was INCREDIBLE. The extreme talent of all of the performers, men and women, blew us all away. The crowd favourite was, by far, the ‘wheel of death’, referring to a huge, spherical cage with a man driving a motorcycle inside, around in loops. This was already impressive, but then they added a second motorbike, then a third, and then a fourth. Imagine our shock once the fifth showed up! The entire show, and that final act, will surely remain in our memories for a very long time. We ate dinner after the show, and were then given 20 minutes to go shopping at a small shopping street. While some people were up and down the street, going from store to store, trying to find good deals, some of us were more than content spending the whole 20 minutes at the local McDonalds. Truly two types of people. As it was getting late by this point, we elected to ride the subway back to the hotel. Once there, we had about 20 minutes to prepare for bed, and then we slept, in anticipation of our trip to the Great Wall the next day.
Very, very cold in Beijing, but look at the blue sky!!!
