The Great Wall of China

I couldn't get my video to load up on my blog so I've loaded it only to Youtube.com. It's just a short little clip from our hike on the Great Wall of China. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN-x18B-EiA

Weekly Wrap-up In Pictures: Week 6

Wow! Where has all the time gone! Week 6 has come and gone and I only have 2 weeks left. Check out all the great pics that were taken this past week. :)

Sunday - Cleanup worker's bikes all in a row. This is next to my bus stop.
Monday - We saw Harry Potter while we were here, but I have to say that this is the WORST Harry Potter movie poster I have EVER seen.
Tuesday - Look what I found in my soup! Yes, friends, that IS a chicken foot.
Wednesday - Fancy lunch! Michael's boss treated us to lunch where we had a truly authentic chinese lunch complete with lots of mushrooms, bullfrog and even jellyfish. She also treated us to Transformers 3 and dessert at Coldstone! YUM!
Thursday - LOL! American food festival! Craisins, raisins, Pringles, Quaker Oatmeal, OH MY! Some of then items cost around $17 American dollars!
Friday - I finished my 4 weeks of Mandarin classes! Margherita our teacher is so cute and was such a great instructor.
Saturday - Would anyone like to buy some "ABERCROMBLB AND FITOH" shorts? Didn't think so... LOL! These are for sale at one of the markets near Michael's work.

The Temple of Heaven

We've had such fun time here in Beijing sightseeing and it has been even more fun since we have been able to sightsee quite a bit with our friends Allie and Steve Tensmeyer. Last weekend we decided to go and see the Temple of Heaven. We had actually tried to see the Temple of Heaven on 2 other occasions, but for some reason we found ourselves unable to leave the Pearl Market shopping area directly across the street... Well, the third time's a charm and we finally made it into the gate of the Temple of Heaven this last attempt. :)

The Temple of Heaven grounds were HUGE and covered quite of bit of area. We were there for a few hours and only managed to see about 1/4 of the grounds, but we made sure to see all of the important buildings which included the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, The Imperial Vault of Heaven, and The Circular Mound Alter.

Some interesting history - "Twice a year the Emperor and all his retinue would move from the Forbidden city through Beijing to encamp within the complex, wearing special robes and abstaining from eating meat. No ordinary Chinese was allowed to view this procession or the following ceremony. In the temple complex the Emperor would personally pray to Heaven for good harvests. The highpoint of the ceremony at the winter solstice as performed by the Emperor on the Earthly Mount. The ceremony had to be perfectly completed; it was widely held that the smallest of mistakes would constitute a bad omen for the whole nation in the coming year."

Most of the buildings at the Temple of Heaven were originally built in the 15th century but due to fire caused by lightening, some have been rebuilt with the most recent being in the late 1800's.

The Temple of Prayer for Good Harvest
Inside the Echo Wall - I love all of the umbrellas being used on a blue-sky day :)
From the Circular Mound Alter looking at some of the grounds
Absolutely amazing!

Confucius Temple

With Michael working a 9 to 6:30 job and with my tutoring hours only taking up a small amount of my day, I have had some time to really check out some great sites around Beijing on my own. One of the sites I have seen lately, sans Michael, has been the Confucius Temple.

The Confucius Temple grounds were really interesting. Some of the buildings here even date back to the 14th century and the grounds were used to pay respects to Confucius and used as a scholars school of Confucianism until 1911. Confucius was a scholar of the 5th century BC and most of us are familiar with Confucius quotes, even if we weren't aware that that is what they are. Some include "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves," "I hear and I forget. I see and I understand. I do and I remember," and "It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop."

Gate to the hutong that leads to the Confucius Temple.
These are Red Prayer Tablets that are hung outside of the Temple.

Inside of one of the small buildings that commemorate Confucius. The ceilings is amazing!Remember: Confucius say "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do." :)

Weekly Wrap-up In Pictures: Week 5

We've had an amazing Week! Here are some great pics that I wanted to share.

Sunday - "Something about this dish just doesn't seem appetizing but I can't quite figure out what exactly..."

Monday - Just enjoying another day in a Beijing shopping district. :)


Tuesday - McDonald's doesn't have apple pie, but it does have sweet taro! Wednesday - Another great pic from McDonald's. This is the breakfast rush. Thursday - "Not quite, but nice try..." This was taken at the Wangfujing Bookstore. The English section is minimal, but at least they have one!
Friday - A family of four on a motorcycle. Never thought I would see this, but I see it all over here!
Saturday - Breathtaking scenery atop The Great Wall.5 weeks down, only 3 more to go... I'm feeling a little bittersweet.

A Hike Along the Great Wall

This past weekend we had an amazing experience. First of all, I never in my life thought I would ever visit China, and secondly, I never would have thought that I would EVER hike the GREAT WALL OF CHINA! To say that it was amazing and wonderful would be an understatement. The scenery was incredible, as well as the weather. It had just rained the day before so the air was pretty cool and breezy and it was a beautiful blue sky day. I was able to take a TON of pictures, 145 in all, and I was really impressed by the fact that I was able to hike as much as I did and enjoy it every step of the way (once we were on the wall.)






A little more about our trip... I had been researching visiting the Great Wall for some time and decided that the JINSHANLING section of the Wall would be the best for us to visit because it is still rugged, which was awesome, and far fewer people visit it, as compared to the BADALING section of the wall that has been restored and is VERY TOURISTY. It was also built about 600 years ago! Allie and Steve Tensmeyer were able to come along with us as well, which made the trip even more fun. We left from Beijing Dongzhimen Station by bus on Saturday morning at 8am and took the 1.5 hour bus ride to Miyun County where we then had to take a "taxi" to the JINSHANLING section of The Wall. I use the term "taxi" lightly because it was pretty much just a guy with a car who negotiated a price with us when we got off the bus... After another hour or so car ride, we came to The Great Wall and we were all blown away! It was amazing. The hike up to The Wall was not enjoyable in the least, but once we were on The Wall, it was an incredible hike. In all, we walked about 15 towers and it took us about 3 hours or so.


After taking numerous photos, drinking lots of water on The Wall and eating fried chicken for lunch, we took our cab ride back to our buss stop, as well as the bus back to Beijing and ended the day with a great Muslim dinner. This was by far one of the most enjoyable experiences that I have had while here in China. As I was telling Michael, "it was my favorite thing that I've done that I never even knew I wanted to do."

Peking Roast Duck

Ducks Roasting in the Oven. YUM YUM!!


Even before Michael and I came to China I had heard about a famous Chinese dish called Peking Duck or Chinese Roast Duck. Well, Beijing is the birthplace of this dish and I was excited that I was not only going to be able to sample this famous meal, but excited that I would have the chance to try it for the first time here in China where it was invented.

After researching the dish for a few hours and using the internet and a few guidebooks for resources I finally settled on a little restaurant down the street from our apartment. I'm not sure what the Chinese name of the restaurant is, but I love the fact that the only English words outside the restaurant read "BEIJING ROAST DUCK."

We were able to go with Allie and Steve Tensmeyer who we've been able to hang out with here (he happens to be from Cincinnati where we lived for 5 years! Small world!) and the food was amazing! I definitely enjoyed every bit of it and can't wait to go back. Beijing Roast Duck is one of the best Chinese dishes I have had here! Sure beats the BBQ Chicken Feet...


When you order Roast Duck the waiter brings you:
1. duck meat
2. duck skin (delicious!)
3. sliced cucumbers
4. sliced spring onions
5. Hoisin sauce
6. sugar

The idea is to layer your duck and toppings in your pancake, roll up and eat. This dish has been prepared since the Imperial Era and is now considered one of China's national foods... or so says Wikipedia. :)

Weekly Wrap-up In Pictures: Week 4

I can't believe that I have been here for 4 weeks! It amazes me how quickly the time has gone by and how much I have come to really enjoy it here. It has been such a wonderful experience and I am excited about what the next 4 weeks have in store for me and Mike.

Sunday - During the day this is a common sight, especially on weekends. Men and even some women set up tables and play games for hours. At this particular park there were about 6 games of cards or Mahjong going on.
Monday - Michael and his new bike. A friend of ours we met here gave it to Mike because he is moving back to Croatia. This has cut Mike's commute to work down to only 15 minutes.
Tuesday - Tutoring session. I tutor Michael's bosses daughter who is 9-year's-old in English.
Wednesday - enjoying the night air and eating sunflower seeds.
Thursday - one of the smallest cars I have ever seen. It only had 3 wheels!
Friday - FYI - Hooter's girls look cheesy in every country...
Saturday - SO HAPPY TO FIND A MAGAZINE WRITTEN IN ENGLISH!! WHO CARES IF IT IS MONTHS OLD!
4 weeks down, only 4 more to go. I never would have guessed I would be this sad about he thought of leaving. I'm glad I still have lots of time to see more of China, though.

Weekly Wrap-up In Pictures: Week 3

I'm a little behind but I want to keep up with my weekly posting of pictures. Here's week 3! Pretty fun in my opinion and it seems to have a food theme to it... :)

Sunday - Famous Peking Roast Duck with the Tensmeyer's. Delicious!!
Monday - 9 Dragons Hostel. They have some of the best burgers here!
Tuesday - Angry Birds EVERYWHERE! They are kinda obsessed here...
Wednesday - 2 super cute kids who wanted to be in a picture with Mike while we were at dinner. The Asians love him here! Mike feels a bit like a celebrity. This is probably the 10th time someone has asked him for a picture, and it hasn't been the last, either. I only get 1/2 as many requests.
Thursday - Yummy Pizza!! Almost tasted American!
Friday - Sporting my knock-off Coach sunglasses in the park.
Saturday - Acupuncture for Fertility. Judging by my expression you would think it was awful bu it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. If you look close enough you can see the needles ALL over my stomach. He used about 15 and even put some in my feet! He also burned incense and herbs over my stomach to "warm" it. Very interesting, but I think I may go back for more... :)