China Day 9

We have been provided with an opportunity to visit the Beijing Zoo. The Chinese teachers do not have any more time off. Since the American teachers have teamed up, we split up into three groups. The groups are spread over three days to have a day off. This way, the American teachers can cover for each other. I’ll be covering someone else’s class tomorrow.

This allows the American teachers an extra day to explore Beijing.

Today was my day. I went with two other teachers. We scheduled going to the Beijing Zoo, the Summer Palace, and Silk Market.

Our plans were a success. We went to the the Zoo first thing in the morning. We checked out the Pandas. Next, we wandered around many exhibits and found the lions and tigers. We also found the Elephants, but that was sad. The Elephants were in a caged area that barely allowed them to take a couple of steps. We asked about the Ferry to the Summer Palace, but were told to take the subway. So we were off on the subway to the Summer Palace.

The Summer Palace was a real treat. The beauty is incredible. There is so much to see that we probably could’ve spent a couple of days there. However, we did get a good taste of what was there. At one point, we saw a group of soldiers talking to a man sitting with a sign. It was obvious that he was protesting something. I decided to take a picture. I got just a little nervous when a soldier turned and looked straight at me. However, he neither said nor did anything. In just a moment afterward, the soldiers moved along.

We walked around the Summer Palace for a couple hours. I’m sure that we saw about 20% of what is there. However, the theater area was absolutely gorgeous. The theater is a three story theater with booths on the side for viewing. The colors were beautiful. You could envision a production being performed.

We walked back to a garden area. It was very refreshing to see and smell fresh trees. We also looked at some of the artifacts that date back to 11th century B.C.

Then it was a subway ride to the Silk Market. We did some shopping, then headed out to eat. Silk Market is very much like Pearl Market. However, Silk Market is a bit more like a shopping mall in that each store has walls. Pearl Market is more like a flea market. Both involve lots of bargaining (even though there are signs in Silk Market about not bargaining). I actually preferred Pearl Marketas it seems more like what it really is.

The subway ride back was insane. The line (queue is the British term) to enter one of the subway cars was nuts. Basically, one had to push one’s way onto the subway. The expression packed in like sardines is appropriate. However, we made it onto the subway and back to the Hotel.

I got back in time to stop into the evening session and say “Hello” to some of my students. I did lots of walking, over 25,000 steps, and had a good time.