The Beginning of Beijing

Ok, I know I am super behind on blogging, and I apologize! I’ve been in Beijing for two and a half weeks, and this is only my first post! I have so many wonderful and exciting things to share about this remarkable city.  My classes are very challenging, and during the week I really have to focus on studying and reading, so I don’t have any time to blog or explore the city.  In a future post I can talk more about 北京语言大学 － Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU).

I am at BLCU through Alliance, a company based out of Washington D.C. with programs directly through Butler University. There are 12 U.S. students here in my program, and before classes started we had a chance to do some sightseeing.

Our first adventure was at The Summer Palace. The Summer Palace was the vacation spot for the emperor and his family, most of which happened during the Qing Dynasty. The Summer Palace is a beautiful and prominent park in Beijing.  It is well-known for the man-made lake in the center of the park and a small mountain (made from the materials dug out of the lake) that is also on the site.  For the entire afternoon I was perplexed by the fact that every building, piece of art and landscape was made solely by human hands hundreds of years ago.

Our group of students got to ride on the famous dragon boats around Kunming Lake.  This lake is the center of the Summer Palace, you can see many great views of the mountains and buildings.

The Summer Palace is filled with many luxurious and beautiful sights, after all it was the vacation site for royalty.  There is a main temple that is in The Summer Palace, Longwang Miao, which was built to worship the Dragon King.  I only had the chance to see the temple from a distance, it is quite a hike up a tall mountain.

One of my favorite things about Beijing is that most of the elderly population appears to be so content and happy.  Whenever I try to speak with an older person they tend to be very patient and understanding of the language barrier.  In most parks and famous sites in Beijing the elderly get free admission, so the parks are usually filled with older Chinese  people doing Tai Chi, playing cards, or creating artwork. In the photo a man is writing calligraphy on the street simply with a brush and water.  It is beautiful to see this aspect of the Chinese culture so alive and cherished.

After seeing The Summer Palace, the Alliance group visited the main space that was used in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  The entire area seemed very different from the rest of the city.  First we saw the famous Bird’s Nest, which hosted the track and field events, opening ceremony, and other sporting events during the Olympics.  It is still very evident that to this day the general Chinese population is so proud that their country had the honor of hosting such a global and historical event.

This area of Beijing was very spacious and open, much different than the majority of the city.  While we were visiting that day, an international track event was going on, I learned that the Bird’s Nest often hosts a variety of events.  It’s great to know that the beautiful building is still getting some great use!

Our last site of the day was the Water Cube.  Only a short walk from the Bird’s Nest, the Water Cube is another beautiful building.  I hope to return and see this area at nighttime, in the evening the Water Cube comes to life with lights.

I am in love with the city of Beijing, I am so grateful that my journey has only just begun.  I can’t wait to share more life changing and exciting moments with you! Thanks for reading! 🙂