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Plate with face: A peddler in the Forbidden City had been in the area the group I was with, and once he saw me, it seemed that he started to draw my face on a plate. Once I noticed him, I thought, “This guy is creepy…I will try to avoid him.” I did not know that he was drawing my face on a plate till someone pointed that out to me. I still thought he was creepy, but I continued to let him draw my face. Once he had finished, I was actually amazed. The way it was drawn on the plate seemed nice. He started to hand it to me, and I thought it was for free. Turned out he wanted 50 Juan for it. It was a nice deal, but dang it seemed expensive.
Summer Palace: This place was very nice. The view was amazing, and I loved the fact that there was a lot of nature in the area. Between the trees and the buildings, I felt that this was a great place to be. We moved on through the area, and everyone in our group got a kick out of the little kid who tried to sell stuff to one of our members. Since he was the one we picked on often, we enjoyed the moment. Once we moved on from the lake, we got to enjoy more buildings. We eventually moved to a central area, where we had a Tai-Chi lesson. Let me tell you, this was not as fun as it sounded. My legs felt like jelly so many times, but I endured the pain. This was a good part about the tour. I know that I was the only guy who could go down very low in the dragon stance. I am glad I took martial arts at my school.
Dinner on Day one: Peking duck. This was the first restaurant where we had chopsticks, and let me tell you one thing: I was not a pro at using them. They made a mockery of me, and it did not help me that I was sitting with my friends. Sure, they helped me, but I could tell on the inside that they were giggling at my failed attempts. Anyways, onto the true part here. Dinner was amazing. The duck tasted nice, even though I only had a couple pieces. I think I did not eat that much here because of the chopsticks. Everything about this place was just magnificent. The service was great, and so was the restaurant.
School: This place was huge. We all see the schools here In the US? The size of this particular High School we went to was about the size of a university, I think. But ranging from their achievements room, to their art department, all the way to their science department, this place never failed to amaze any of us. We got to see the art work of students, and even what seemed like the zoo exhibit. Underneath the staircases was some artwork of the solar system, cosmos, and much more. Once we left the science hall, we were led to their dance hall. That place was nice, and some of us took the time to stretch a bit. Their mirrors in there were perfect for us to get pictures of ourselves. After this, we went back upstairs to head to the band room. There, we got to hear the band of this school rehearsing, and they were great. They had some amazing pieces, and played it magnificently. After they played, it was Cascade’s turn. We played three pieces: Xerxes, by John Mackey, Dusk, by Steven Bryant, and …Go, by Samuel Hazo. The Choir then took their time to perform, and since I was not a part of their program I don’t have much to say except their hard work also paid off.
Red Theater: After lunch at a restaurant, we came here to the Red theater. We were coming here to see a karate show. The mere thought of it made a lot of us excited. But let me tell you, this show was great. We got to see the story of Chun Li and his journey to becoming a monk. We all had some good laughs, and some scares. We did not expect some monks to appear out of thin air right by our row, hitting a gock block the way they were. We were all startled, but my friend had the worst reaction: “OH MY GOD WHAT’S HAPPENING?!” We got a kick out of that, and it happened again. By that time I had figured out that they were coming through doors on the sides, so I was not one of the ones who got scared when they appeared again out of thin air. The show was great, but I wish I had a drink. Popcorn made me thirsty.
Great Wall: When we all heard that this place was big, it was not an understatement. Do not underestimate this place. It was amazing to see this monument of China’s history still standing, and well maintained in the area we were in. To think that we would be performing on the Great Wall was now something I looked forward to. We got ourselves set up, and found out we had a good thirty minutes before we had to perform, so that was some free time for us. I decided to head up the Great Wall, and got up two flights of steps before I grew weary and needed to get down. Let me tell you: Make sure you have water with you before you go up the Great Wall. You will need it if you want to venture out and explore the wall. Once we all got back to our performance area, we got settled back in, and unfortunately for us, the wind was acting up this day. The weather had been so nice to us for so long, why did the wind have to come? It was so sunny, but sitting out there would not be fun in the performance attire. I was glad I had a spot in the shade, but dang it was cold. Not only that, but we had to be careful with our music, or else we wouldn’t have seen it again. The wind would have carried it off into the distance. Our music was nice for the wall: Our own fight song first, then …Go, then Xerxes, then the Fight Song again. Between Go and Xerxes, the Choir performed their own pieces of music. After we performed, we went back to the busses, where we got changed into casual clothing. We then had a couple hours to explore the wall again. I decided AGAINST going up the wall, since it tired me out, and I did not have any water on me. This was not my smartest idea. I decided to check out the Great Wall gift shop, where I found two turtles that I got my mom, and one shot glass. Everyone brought her one back from the trips they go on and I would not fail this tradition. As soon as I joined a small group of friends, we went down the Great Wall. The view was nice, and we even found a camel! We called him Fred, since he seemed like a nice camel. After we had our fun with Fred, we moved on to a farther in area, where pictures continued. Most of the group found themselves getting pictures with two teenage Chinese girls. I just sat back and ‘photosniped’ them. We had our fun, but we had to go back. I am sure if I ever get the chance to come back, I will visit the Great Wall again.
Jade Factory: This place seemed fairly interesting from the time we walked in, to the time we left. We learned about how the jade was carved into different items. We got a discount on some jade items, such as jade statues of the Zodiac animals. Here, I got my brother a jade horse, since he was born in 1990. There were so many interesting jade items, but dang they were expensive. They were not the stuff that was on sale for us. Then again, most of it I did not even want anyways. I do have to say the swords were amazing. If I could have had my way, I would make a character that would dual wield swords just like those.
Bird’s Nest: On the way here, I tried to get pictures of the stick figure guys. It took me a while, but I got one of them! I called out success there. Once we got there, we had to go through a security check. I am sure we understand why: This place was where they held the Olympics in 2008 I think. The building got its name for being like a Bird’s Nest. There were some great things here. For one, they had Western toilets, and not the squatting toilets. I did not ever use those, and I was glad I didn’t. The track was nice. They had some scooter like things running there. I never did get the name of them…someone else in the group would know. One thing that did catch my eye was a sign saying ‘love elevator.’ I never did find out what it was for, but many of us implied the meaning with a dirty mind. I did find an image of what I thought was the pipe lines…I couldn’t understand what it was for since it was in Chinese. All in all, the Bird’s Nest was a great site to see. I didn’t see the Water Cube though.
Night Market: WORST SMELLS EVER! Dear lord I swear I would have vomited. It was disgusting. I hated being at the place, and I was glad once we got away from the food. We found a mall, and I got inside as soon as I could to get away from the smells. The first thing some of us went to find was Starbucks. They were so sad to see it closed. The pictures were very good though. I was saddened when my group ditched me, but some male chaperones took me in. It was all right to walk with them. Besides, we moved by the Children’s Theater which was pretty cool. But never again will I go to a Night Market.
Silk Factory: This place featured lots of things. In the lobby, they had a map of the Silk Road. As you moved farther in, you could see many features of silk through the years. They even showed the process of how silk comes to be. One of the workers led us through the process, and even gave us the chance to try one. It was great when someone stepped up to do that. He said it tasted all right, and then the worker said he would be handsome in ten minutes. After the demonstration, we were led inside where we could purchase some silk. It was all expensive so I saved my money.
Art Gallery: This place was huge, and had many sights that were great. Starting off with the place where we were to meet if we would get lost, we all had a great laugh. It was a statue of a naked, fat man. Most of our group went to take a picture with him. I just laughed and avoided getting dragged into a picture. While waiting for some to use the bathroom, we looked around. I caught sight of the metal creature on top of a building. I was fascinated with it, and actually thought of what it would be. I never came up with an answer for that though. Hey, was that a Ferrari I saw a ways back? Yes we actually saw some amazing cares in China. We moved on, and found what looked like a clay ape, a rubix cube, and some moving men. There was one more thing about this place: It was also a place where people would come to get their wedding pictures taken. Not only this, but I did find out that some Chinese people were into drawing animal characters. I thought it was great, and they showed their care for animals. The thing that was not missing from the gallery is what most people would expect: Naked people. This was some of the other’s best part of China. Sure, it was nice to see, but there were better things. Some walking around, and the group I was with found a bird cage. I made the joke of saying we could go behind bars. I think sometime while I was in the cage I lost my sanity and happiness. Once I left the cage I was fine. We moved deeper into the art gallery, and found some nice statues of dogs facing a lone warrior, two wounded horses, and a giant…baby angel thing. We also found two cats, and they were cute but we had to be careful around them. The other statues we found were…strange. Transformers were more than meets the eye though.
Sewer Water: This was more of a funny moment in China for me and two other people. We went into a café while we were at a market, and not the night market. We sat down, and one of us ordered an iced coffee. While we waited, the others chatted for some time. I just listened in, and stayed quiet. I didn’t have to get involved in their conversation. A while goes, and the waitress brings us three cups of lemon water. There was one of us who did not trust it at first, but the girl of our group tasted it and said, “Its lemon water.” We each then tried it, and confirmed that it was safe. The paranoid one of us called it poison water, so we got a kick out of that. After a few minutes, I thought I would leave, but the paranoid one said, “HEY! YOU GOTTA DRINK YOUR POISON AS WELL! IF I AM GONNA DIE SO WILL YOU!” Humoring him, I spun around, grabbed the water, and drained it quickly right as the girl said, “Its sewer water.” I started to choke on laughter, and I had to cover my mouth since I wanted to spit it out. Once I got it all down, I was choking and laughing at the same time. The paranoid one handed me a water bottle and I drank some. I just kept on laughing after that. This was a brilliant moment.
Market: This place wasn’t so bad since it was not the dreaded night market. But here is what I will say: The ones who control the shops will try to sell you the stuff, and will even try to force you to stay till you buy something. Their tactics did not work on me at all since I was out of money. This place is memorable for me, since while I had been at a stand looking around, our band director was walking by. A vendor asked him, “Want a shirt?” and all he did was continue on, hands behind his back, and said, “I already have a shirt.” I smiled, and thought that he was still his amazing self.
 Belzayne · Sun Apr 17, 2011 @ 11:26pm · 1 Comments |
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