Beijing Tour Day 3

I got up earlier this morning so I could go get batteries for my camera. I went down to the lobby and figured out where and connivence store was in the area. I went in and didn’t see batteries, so I got to ask in Chinese and I got a response. I was incredibly pleased about the interaction because I was understood, it gave me hope for my ability to learn. I went back to the hotel and got breakfast. We left at nine for the Great Wall (Brennan and Jose took a nap on the way).
    I am going to attempt to put my experience into words. I arrived at the Wall and just stared. It was like looking at something out of a fairytale, and suddenly it was a real thing. The view was gorgeous, the Wall was long and steep. These were the stones that soldiers walked along and people built with their bare hands. It was amazing, still is, it’s a little bit impossible to believe I was there. I really don’t have words to describe it.
    After the Wall everyone was exhausted (Still worth it!), we went to a cloisonne factory. It’s a style of pottery made with copper and then painted over. Wentao (our program director) warned us it was really tourist but because we were in the countryside restaurants were scarce so tourist land we went. This place was totally cheesy and they even gave a us forks to use as an alternative (which is really strange for the places we have been eating). We then looked at the merchandise, which according to Andrew (Chinese name still unknown) were stupidly over priced. We were laughing about how the largest vase in the store was 21 million yuan or 341,000 dollars. Just silly. We then loaded up on the bus and headed to the Ming tombs.
    The Ming tombs were and interesting experience, it was the first time I really saw the result of the Cultural Revolution. The tomb was built for the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, which was roughly 1400s to 1644. The were about 5 flights of stairs down and the tombs were fairly large, but empty. Some things survived but all the caskets were destroyed and the bodies of the Emperors and Empresses burned. The tomb was very empty but it was meant to be and underground palace. We went into another small museum and saw the pictures of the damage. It was insane and very sad that the history had been lost to another piece of history. It was an interesting moment in my exploration of China. I was sad, but also very happy that I was there.
    We headed back to the bus and spent nearly and hour watching Beijing traffic from our bus window. People are nuts, heading the wrong direction, splitting lanes, honking, it was crazy. We went to another restaurant that had some duck and enjoyed the meal. I got to talk to some other students, mostly Shanghai students. It’s interesting to see the different reasons that people study abroad, some people are taking a year off from school and some people have come to study. We then headed out to an acrobatics show.
    The show was amazing, colors lights, contortionists, motorcycles. My favorite act was the guys juggling hats, it was very elaborate and visually very interesting. I was laughing, clapping and yelling with everyone else. The theater let out and now we get to the most intense part of my day. I would like to say now that I am fine and nothing bad actually happened, other than an adrenaline high. I was walking down the street and felt something strange behind me, a man had unzipped my purse and had his hand in it trying to get my wallet. I turned around and began to scream at him “What did you do? You took my wallet!” (This is the PG version for those of you easily offended, for those of you who know my ability to cuss you can imagine what was spilling out of my mouth). I grabbed his bag, shook him and continued to yell, according to Cassidy I shook the guy hard enough that I made him stumble. I yelled for Wentao and the group of students surrounded this guy, though most of them didn’t know what was going on. Cong grabbed the pickpocket and held him in place while Wentao called the police. The guy did push out of our group, and I found my wallet in the wrong place in my purse, so he had his hands on it, but I probably caught him before he could pull it out all the way. I would now like to thank all my Senseis at the dojo, who taught me that being aware pays off.
    We got back on the bus and Cong received a round of applause for grabbing and cussing out the guy in Chinese (Cong is like, 110 pounds soaking wet and very shy). I then got to go talk to the Chinese police, or more specifically Wentao, who then acted as my translator. All in all this day was epic and incredibly memorable. I just keep reminding myself I didn’t lose my wallet and now have an interesting story to tell. Everything is good and now I have some street cred with all the other students. Time for bed, nine am wake up call again tomorrow. Two more days of Beijing!

I'm on the Great Wall!!!

Ming Tombs

Acrobat Show!