tiptoe through our shiny city

It's been quite a while since I've posted anything. It takes kind of a long time because of the difficulties presented by China's national firewall, and I rarely have a chance to spend "kind of a long time" on anything other than homework. Things have gotten much busier since the last post in mid-September. Our homework loads have increased over time, leaving us with less than enough waking hours to actually complete the tasks assigned. Oh well, who needs sleep? But we have had a few chances to get away from the school. Near the beginning of October, we took a trip to 西安 (Xī'ān -- lit. "western peace"), one of China's ancient capitals, located in the heart of the China mainland. There I visited a bunch of historic sites, among them 兵马俑 (bīngmǎyǒng), which is the site of the tomb of 秦始皇 (qín shǐhuáng) and his army of Terracotta Warriors. Seeing thousands of life-size ceramic soldiers (each with different expressions and gestures) that were created over 2000 years ago was mind-boggling to say the least. I was also able to visit an underground museum detailing an emperor's burial site, an ancient Buddhist temple, one of the oldest and largest mosques in China, a valley filled with hotsprings that have been in use for over 6000 years, and 碑林 (bēilín) -- The Forest of Steles -- a collection of about 3000 steles housed in an 11th century temple complex.

Later in the month, we went to the 司马台长城 (sīmǎtái chángchéng) -- the Simatai site along the The Great Wall of China. We walked/climbed along the wall as it meanders up and down the tree-covered 燕山 (yān shān) -- Yan Mountains. The view was amazing as were the watchtowers along the wall. It's a strange feeling to stand on something practically built of history looking out over miles of rolling mountains in every direction and thinking that 1500 years ago herds of goats carried bricks one-by-one to the peaks, then thousands of workers placed them by hand in intricate formations to line the crest of the slopes.

Also in October was National Day, which every year marks the anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. On October 1, 1949, 毛主席 (máo zhǔxí -- Chairman Mao) declared the formation of the PRC under the opposition-free leadership of the 中国共产党 (zhōngguó gòngchǎndǎng -- Chinese Communist Party) at 天安门 (tiān'ānmén). For this year's 60th anniversary, there was an especially huge "celebration" because the equivalent of a century in the Chinese calendar is 60 years due to its being based on five 12-year periods. So The Party threw one of the biggest parties China has ever seen. Here in 北京 (běijīng), over 500,000 government security forces and workers were on the streets in the weeks leading up to 10/1. Tanks were patrolling the city center and the city was closed to travellers. On the day of the celebration, the metro and the buses were shut down, fighter-jets flew overhead, and tanks rolled down the street in front of my dorm. It was extremely erie. At 天安门 , a parade of over 200,000 civilians, plus military personnel, equipment, and floats lasted for several hours. 胡锦涛 (hú jǐntāo) made a speech, of course, and at night there were fireworks (which we could hear from the dorm, but not see because there were skyscrapers in the way). The parade was terrifying as was the aura of the city that day. It's been 1984 for 25 years here.

This blog post doesn't really mention much about the day-to-day, but that's because that just involves going to class, studying, eating food, studying, sleeping (sometimes), and studying. Some of the other adventures I've had include seeing the largest palace in the world: 故宫 (gùgōng -- lit. "former palace" a.k.a. The Forbidden City), going to 京剧 (jīngjù -- The Beijing Opera), drinking some fabulous tea at the city's most famous Tea House, walking around 颐和园 (yíhéyuán -- The Summer Palace), and checking out various markets, restaurants, and shops. I also met up with Professor Rico from Lawrence, who was here for several months while on sabbatical, and we went to The 798 Art District. There we walked around and talked about our experiences in 北京 , the government, art, and life. We also conducted what I suspect may be one of the first oversees advising appointments in Lawrence history.

More on November happenings soon. :)