China: Five Years Later

Ever since I went to China almost five years ago, I have dreamed of going back one day. I didn’t get to see the Great Wall or Beijing, after all, and China stayed a part of my life through so many random people and other things I was involved with. It took almost five years, but last week I did finally get to go back!!! And I’m convinced the Great Wall is even more magnificent when you’ve waited five years to see it.
Last week was Children’s Holiday in Korea, so I didn’t have school Monday or Tuesday, making it a perfect time to travel. I flew in Saturday morning, and after getting some good jiaozi and baozi dumplings, we hit the ground running. I stayed with a family I knew from Lynchburg and it was absolutely wonderful to catch up with them and spend time with their family. Their kids have grown a lot, and it was fun to see how excited they were to see me. They are blondheaded and fair, so when we were out we drew a lot of attention from millions of people, but as long as we kept moving it wasn’t bad. It was a holiday in China too, so tons of people were out. We started off by taking the subway to the Forbidden City, the palace complex where the emperors lived for five centuries (well, altogether).
We went in the first few gates in the outer court. The main buildings like the throne room stand behind each other going back, and other rooms and living quarters are along the wall on the sides. It was interesting to see how much the Forbidden City was similar to the Korean palaces in Seoul (who took the architectural style from the Chinese). It was all very ornate and brightly painted, especially with reds.
After seeing the Forbidden City, we crossed the street to Tiananmen Square, which didn’t seem as crowded since it is so big. Tiananmen is the largest public square in the world, cleared originally as the entrance to the Forbidden City. On the side of the square across from the Forbidden City stands the mausoleum where Mao’s embalmed body is laid to rest. On the eastern side is the Chinese National Museum, and on the western side is the Great Hall of the People, the huge building where the Parliament meets. In the back is a monument to the Long March.We walked through the square to the streets on the other side, past the Drum Tower, which used to be at the end of the city wall, to a new section of streets they are building to be a nice restaurant/shopping area. We walked back as they were preparing to lower the flag in Tiananmen, and after getting up so early to get to the airport, I was exhausted. We went back to their apartment and ordered in a wonderful Chinese meal. Korean food is good, but my personal opinion is that the Chinese food is a lot more delicious and flavorful. :^)

New Streets

I’m drawing this post out again mainly because I have a lot of pictures I want to put up of China, and my internet connection is not good. Stay tuned…