Breezy Beijing Days 1 and 2

Why Breezy?  Because it's windy there?  Yes and no.  Butters, one day long ago, quoted a character on 30 Rock who said something about running away to breezy Beijing.  We started calling it BREEZY Beijing, and Sara Weinberg got irritated.  So we kept calling it Breezy Beijing, and the name stuck.  So there is a little window into one of the inside jokes we'll have when we get back, and that you can now participate in, if you choose.

Getting up at 5 in the morning wasn't too much fun, but hopping on the plane and flying to Beijing was awesome.  The group consists of around 35 SAS people, including myself, Isaiah, and Taylor.  Some more friends of ours coincidentally were on the same trip, and since we are Beijing – Group B, we decided to call it Beijing – Group Beef, because of Beijing Beef at Panda Express.

The first day, after our plane flight, our tour guide Andy (whose accent makes him sound like a cross between Jackie Chan and Nicholas Cage) brought us to the Temple of Heaven, which was beautiful.  It was used a long time ago to make human sacrifices.

The first day wasn't as busy as the second day, when we hit some very important places.  First, we went to Tiananmen Square, famous for the massacre and the man standing in front of the tanks.  It was incredible to be there and to think about what transpired there almost 20 years ago. 

On a more humorous note, we all bought these Communist hats and fake watches.  I bought two watches: one with Mao waving his hand and one fake Rolex, but I didn't want the Rolex so I traded it for a Beijing 2008 hat.  The lady thought my watch was real when I traded it to her, and then she noticed it wasn't but she had already given me the hat and seemed playfully frustrated that I had tricked her with her own game.

After Tainanmen Square we went into the Forbidden City.  We all got a personal electronic automatic guide, which consisted of a map on a thing you wore around your neck and an earpiece.  When you entered into a new section of the area, the woman automatically began speaking.  All we had to do was walk around and we got all the information we wanted.

We entered via the South Gate, which has the famous picture of Mao above it.  To the left of Mao it said in Chinese “long live the People's Republic of China” and to the right it said in Chinese some including “the unity of the world.”

It was startling to thing that when the Forbidden Palace was in use, only a few people were allowed in.  Anyone living in those times knew it was a forbidden place, and only saw its walls and the roofs of palaces.  The palaces were ornate and impressive, rich with history, culture, and tradition.  Further towards the north was the imperial garden with some interesting trees and such.

It is impossible to see everything in there in one whole day, it is just too big!  Everywhere you looked was another room; there's something like 9,000 rooms there.   And it was basically for one person.  Crazy, I know, but really impressive.

Then we got a rickshaw (human powered bike rickshaw) ride through a small suburb and got to see some homes.  Our guide explained the differences between privately owned houses and government owned houses.  I should mention China is a communist nation, and many of the stores around are owned by the government.  I can playfully compare it to when you go to Vons and you see real Froot Loops and then you see Vons' Fruit Swirls:  you're getting China government brand products.

After the rickshaw rides and home tours we went to the top of a bell tower to take pictures and then below it to a tea store.  They gave us tea to sample and then gave us a chance to buy.  On the way back Chandler, a guy in our group, had a crazy fit of laughing that we got on tape.

That night we were tired so Isaiah, Taylor, and I stayed in the hotel for dinner and I made it an early night.