Another class essay on what I've done in Beijing

The first two weekends I have been in Beijing, the UF in Beijing office has taken us on planned excursions to the Great Wall at Badaling, Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, and Temple of Heaven. This weekend we were supposed to visit Shanghai as a group as well, but due to the earthquakes in Sichuan Provence, the students from the UF in Chengdu program were relocated to Beijing and therefore delaying our trip. Because of the little short notice we received on the cancellation of the Shanghai trip, it left me without plans for the weekend. This was effectively my first weekend in Beijing without any planned trips so I decided to use it to my advantage to see Beijing on my terms.

Typically after class, I go eat lunch at one of the many cafeterias and then return to my bedroom to begin homework or studying. Because I did not have any immediate homework to be completed, instead of quickly returning home I spent time exploring areas of the Tsinghua University campus that I had yet to see. Shortly after I arrived in Beijing, I got lost on campus trying to find the classroom building. In my confusion, I walked past a beautiful flower garden and lake situated near the campus hospital. The park was not too far from the classroom building so I figured it would be a perfect way to start my weekend by relaxing and enjoying its beauty.

The colorful flowers that were in the front garden the first time I visited were no longer there, but the serenity of the water was, so I sat along the side of the lake next to a stone footbridge. The rippling water flowed alongside a tree lined pathway leading to an unknown area. I walked along the pathway, expecting to find more flower beds, bridges, and serenity, yet I encounter something I never expected to see. The walkway opened onto a wide courtyard with jubilant music and elderly men and women performing a choreographed dance. A little further into the park lead to a grassy knoll and a fountain cascading down a rock sculpture. The park was filled with grandparents and grandchildren playing, laughing, and generally having a pleasant time. I took comfort in the lush grass, sprawled out, and took a short nap. All the energy in the park inspired my creative notions, and spent the rest of my time writing, daydreaming, and doodling in my notebook.

I had previously not thought about what parents did with their children who are not yet old enough to attend school. In the United States, most children are sent to pre-school or day care while their parents are at work. Sending children to pre-school or day care offers many benefits to American parents. It not only provides care to children while their parents cannot supervise them, they toddlers are exposed to the germs and bacteria of other children which will build up their immune systems. It seems that in China, it becomes the responsibility of the grandparents to care for the young children. This seems to make much sense, considering that Eastern cultures are extremely oriented toward the family unit, often with many generations living within one house.

After my rest in the campus park, I wanted to keep with my theme of beautiful parks by joining some other students to visit the Summer Palace. Much of the Summer Palace was rebuilt by the Empress Dowager Cixi who demanded to be surrounded by beauty; she even spent the citizen’s tax dollars to build additional sites in her palace. We entered the Summer Palace with the masses of tour groups hoping to see its beauty as well. Since the Summer Palace is so large and spread out, we decided to only explore the front-hill area and come back another day to explore the rest. Immediately diverted from the path of the tour groups and found a side path to climb Longevity Hill. We followed a footpath cut through the tree-covered side of Longevity Hill. To our left were cliffs and to our right led deeper into the woods. As we made our way towards the Tower of Buddhist Incense, we saw animals, aside from the occasional pet dog, including chipmunks and several varieties of birds living in a natural environment. On Longevity Hill also was the first time I had experienced fresh air since being in Beijing. Living in the constant blanket of pollution, you take for granted how lovely a breath of fresh air is. The air was fragrant, smelling lightly of honeysuckle.

We wandered through the Tower of Buddhist Incense and then down the front of Longevity Hill, back to reality, back to the tourists. To make our way back across the Summer Palace, we took a boat ride across Kunming Lake. The ancient-style boats had large dragon heads at the bow. The ride across Kunming Lake offered gorgeous views of Longevity Hill, Gate of Dispelling Clouds, Hall of Dispelling Clouds, Hall of Moral Glory, Tower of Buddhist Incense, and Hall of the Sea of Wisdom. The boat docked close to the bronze ox that overlooks Kunming Lake. Oxen supposedly possess flood control powers so the bronze ox was placed alongside the lake in hopes of preventing floods and the destruction of the Summer Palace. Alongside the bronze ox is the Seventeen-Arch Bridge which connects to Nanhu Island. We crossed the windy bridge and explored the halls on Nanhu Island. I found it very funny to see some of the offerings people had left for the gods: Coca-Cola, Pepsi, loaves of bread, whole cakes, M&M’s, and dried fruit, all in groups of two.

The next day I went with another group of students to visit the Beijing Zoo and Aquarium. Our main goal was to visit the world class aquarium which resided within the grounds of the zoo. Ours, with probably most everyone else who enters the zoo made their first stop at the giant panda exhibit. I immediately realized that the Beijing Zoo was not maintained and designed to Western standards. The pandas, along with most other animals, are kept in small concrete enclosures with little or no greenery or other animals to interact with. At Western zoos, animals live and interact with each other (individual species) in large habitats mocking their natural one.

On our way to the aquarium, we decided to take speed boat rides that were offered along a river that bisected the zoo. I could only describe the experience as wild. This was no pleasure cruise along the river, but a hectic, rough, and most of all, fun. As the boat looped around to head back towards the dock, we saw a group of men bathing in the river. I still wonder why they were doing so because the water was filthy, which was only exacerbated by the boats making trips every couple of minutes.
We came to the zoo under the impression that admission to the aquarium was included in the ticket fare, but when we got the aquarium we were extremely mistaken. The admission price for the aquarium was not only separate, but more than I had spent on any one item thus far! There was only an hour left until the park closed so we decided that the admission was not worth it, but we would come back another day once we received our student identification cards.