| View Blog
|
|
|
|
Today we went to the Beihai Park, Lunch, Pearl Market, Temple of Heaven, and then the Cloisonne Facotry. All of them were amazing and full of so much information I don't know where to start.
LeiLei was our tour guide today. She is 25 years old, and was very informative. She has just graduated from the university in China, and her English is very fluent. It was very amazing to watch her switch back and forth between Chinese and English.
Belihai Park was built around 938 A.D. as a summer palace for the Emperor. When it comes down to it, the park was a huge waste of space. When the Emperors were alive, the common people were not allowed inside of it, as they were not worthy of being around the Emperor. However, in 1925 it was opened to the people, as a place for them to relax and hang out. As we were talking through the park, there were a lot of people who were around, and doing things like playing a different verison of Haky-Sac, and Tai Chi. There were people dancing to music, and playing music and everything. It was quite facinating. It appeared that other than tourists, there were only older people in the park. According to LeiLei, there is mandatory retirement ages for people in China. When you work for the factory men have to retire at 55, and if you work for the city, men must retire at 60. Women all have to retire at 50. The people are given money by the governement to pay for them to live, and they have a ton of free time. So people meet in the park and volunteer to teach others how to do Tai Chi, dance, and have fun!
Another thing we learned in Belhi Park was there are many traditions. Numbers are very important, and so are the animals. For example, at many entrances, there are a pair of lions, one male, one female. These are for protection. The female is always on the left, and the male is always on the right. You can tell them apart by what they have under thier paw. The male has a decorated sphere, which represents the earth, and how males control the earth. Under the female's paw is a cub, showing that the female is dominant of the children and cares for them.
After we left the park, we went to lunch. At lunch, LeiLei took us to an authentic Chinese resturant. She was unable to eat with us because of the customs in China, but she stopped in between our appetizer and main course. She then came in at the end to explain everything to us. Everything tasted wonderfu, but there is something to be said about having homemade turkey dinner on Thanksgiving. However, they recoginized that it was Thanksgiving day in America, and they made a special pumpkin desert for us. It was very sweet.
Well, I will have to post more later. I have to get ready for breakfast. There will be pictures to come, probably when I get to Guangdong, becuase we will have more down time, as there is not as much to sightsee in the southern part of China.
Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!!
|
|
Posted by MissAus on 2007-11-22 16:44:52 | Rating: | Views: 90
|
|
| |
|
|
| Blog Comments
|
|
|
|
|
That was really interesting to read! How come your guide wasn't allowed to eat with you? Enjoy the rest of your trip. :)
|
|
Posted by kaos264
on 2007-11-23 12:14:44
|
|
|
|
|
It is a custom for the Chinese culture to not allow the guides or drivers to eat with the tourists. Lily said that she thinks it is another way for the government to regulate things, and that they do not want to tourists to feel like they are imposing on them.
|
|
Posted by MissAus
on 2007-11-24 02:01:15
|
|
|
|
|
|
Email This to a Friend 
