Thanksgiving in Beijing

You can view some pictures at http://thanksgivinginbeijing.shutterfly.com/#n_19?role=-1.


Thursday, November 26 (Thanksgiving Day)
We left Ji’nan at 7:00 AM on the bullet train to Beijing. Lugene and I went along with JoAnn and Sarah and Richard and Paula Watkins. The train goes about 128 miles per hour. Beijing is about 220 miles from Ji’nan. It took us about 3 hours to get there. Marvin Wu, our travel coordinator, arranged for a small bus to pick us up and take us to the hotel. Our guide while we were in Beijing was named Jean. She met us ant get us checked in to the hotel. We stayed in the Mercur hotel. It is about a 30 minute walk from Tian’anmen square.
After we got checked in we walked to the end of the block and ate lunch. It was in a Portuguese restaurant and was quite good. We then went to the “huge” Beijing bookstore that was across the street. The Watkins had been invited to Thanksgiving dinner by some American friends of theirs, so we separated from them after the bookstore.
Sarah, JoAnn, Lugene and I got a taxi and went to the Silk Market. This is a large, multi-floored building that sales all kinds of souvenirs and other goods to tourists. We had a lot of fun. We bought gifts for the children and grandchildren and some gifts for ourselves. Lugene got her a very nice pearl and jade necklace and bracelet and a large fan that she has wanted for a long time. Lugene and I decided we wouldn’t criticize each other’s purchases since we have different ideas of what we want/need.
That evening we went to the mall by the hotel for dinner and then “crashed”. I guess we were tired from the trip and shopping. We thought about the children and their Thanksgiving festivities but knew that we would be with them next year.

Friday, November 27
The hotel offered a complimentary breakfast that was both American and Chinese. All the Americans enjoyed it because they had bacon, omelets, French toast, etc. After breakfast we all loaded on a bus and went to Tian’anmen Square. We walked passed Mao’s tomb (but didn’t go in). We saw the old main gate to Beijing from when it had a wall that encircled the area where the square, the Forbidden City and other parts of old Beijing are located. We also saw the Chinese monument to unknown soldiers. Supposedly, the square is the largest public square in the world.
After the square we crossed the street (underground) and walked through the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost five centuries, it served as the home of the Emperor and his household, as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government.
Built from 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms and covers 7,800,000 sq ft. The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.
Our tour guide taught us many things including the Chinese tradition that the dragon represents man and the Phoenix represents woman. We also learned how to tell whether a Chinese lion statue is male or female. The male statue has his foot on a ball that represents man’s control of the universe, and the female dragon has her foot on a lion cub. Most buildings of significance in China have the two lions on either side of the main door.
After a Chinese lunch in a local restaurant we went to the site of the 2008 Olympics. We toured the “bird’s nest” stadium where the opening and closing ceremonies were held. We also saw the “water cube” where the swimming competitions were held. While riding the bus, our tour guide explained that Beijing means the northern capital, Nanjing is the southern capital, and Xian is the western capital.
From the Olympic site we went to the Temple of Heaven. This is a temple on a hill (now a large park) where the Emperor would go three times a year to offer animal sacrifices and pray for a good harvest. There is a building north of the temple that is known as God’s sleeping room. Since the Chinese didn’t know what God looked like, they kept a piece of wood in the room with a sign on it saying “God”. They would take this piece out of the “sleeping room” when the Emperor came to pray and place it in the temple. Prior to his tri-annual visit, the Emperor would fast for three days. (We saw some similarities between this practice and some Old Testament practices.)
While riding in the bus, our tour guide explained that the reason Chinese homes have hearths at the bottom of their doors is to keep the evil spirits (ghosts) out. Apparently, since the ghosts don’t walk, they aren’t able to step over the hearth. Most homes also have a screen in the homes’ entrance. This is also to keep the ghosts out since they can’t turn corners and thus get around the screen to go into the house. She also told us ghosts are afraid of the color red. This is one of the reasons you see red so often in China. The guide also taught us to say “mǎmahūhū”. This means so-so or fair. For example, if some asked if you spoke Chinese, you could use this as your answer. Everyone liked it, because it has such a funny sound in English.
In the evening we had dinner and then went to a Chinese acrobatic show. It was similar to the one we saw in Ji’nan, but had a few more exciting elements.

Saturday, November 28, 2009
After breakfast, we loaded the bus and headed for the Great Wall of China. The wall is in the mountains about 1 ½ hours from the city. On the way we stopped at a government jade factory. We rode a tram up the mountain to the wall because it was so far away. Since the wall is in the mountains, it was very cold. We didn’t stay at the wall for a long time. We bought a few souvenirs and then returned to Beijing.
While traveling, our tour director told us a joke about Deng Xiaoping, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Ronald Reagan. It happened the three of them were walking together and they came to a fork in the road. The sign pointing in one direction said “Capitalism” and the one pointing the other way said “Socialism”. Reagan had no problem choosing to go down the capitalism road. Gorbachev hesitated a few minutes and then followed Reagan. Deng hesitated even longer. He then reversed the signs and went down the capitalism road that was now named socialism. It’s really interesting. During the National Days celebration, the commentators kept referring to the Chinese way of life as “socialism with Chinese characteristics”!
On the return trip we also stopped at a cloisonné factory. We bought an egg and a Christmas ornament. After lunch we went to the Summer Palace.
The Summer Palace was built as a summer home for the Imperial family. The Forbidden City was unbearably hot during the summer, so they had the Summer Palace built around an artificial lake where it was much cooler. The Dowager Empress Cixi enlarged and improved the complex. It has the world’s longest enclosed and painted archway. There is also a marble boat that sits on the edge of the lake. There is also a large Buddhist temple by the lake. After the Summer Palace we toured a Hutong. These are places with Beijing where they have preserved the old homes and narrow streets that were there prior to the 1970’s when Beijing began its expansion into a more modern city. It was late in the afternoon (evening) when we went to the Hutong so it was hard to see a lot because it was so dark.
In the evening we had dinner at a nice Chinese restaurant where we had Beijing (Peking) Duck. This is a famous recipe and an experience all tourists have to have. While traveling to the restaurant, our travel guide told us an old Chinese story. The emperor found a beautiful young girl in a village and forced her to come back to the Forbidden City as one of his concubines. She was very beautiful, but very sad and never smiled. One day the Emperor decided to take her to see the Great Wall, hoping this would make her happy. While there the girl asked what the tall tower was for. The Emperor explained that if the guards saw enemy troops approaching, they would build a fire in the tower. This would alert the dukes and princes that there was a problem and they would send their soldiers to fight the invaders. They girl asked the Emperor if he would build such a fire so she could see it. Wanting to please her he did so. Soon the dukes and princes showed up with their armies. The girl smiled at the confusion she had caused, but the dukes and princes were not happy and soon returned to their kingdoms. A week later the wall was attacked by the enemy. A fire was built in the tower, but no one came to help fight because they assumed it was another false alarm. Because of this the Emperor was killed by the enemies. (This reminded us of the story we had all heard about the young boy who “cried wolf”.)

Sunday, November 29, 2009
Today we all went to Sacrament meeting at the Beijing 1st Branch. The meetings are held on the 4th floor of an office building. The area has been remodeled so there is a chapel, classrooms and offices. The branch had their Children’s Sacrament meeting program. It was very nice. All of the children gave talks in English and shared some scriptures in Chinese.
As we have mentioned earlier, we cannot share the gospel with the Chinese citizens. The branch meeting bulletin contained the following statement that is read each Sunday to the congregation.
“It is important for foreign members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints living in or visiting China to be aware of the unique restrictions on religious activities here. While China permits freedom of religious belief, it requires all religious activities in China comply with relevant laws and regulations. We would like to remind you of the following:
1. No active or passive proselyting is permitted among local nationals in China,
2. Only individuals who hold foreign passports, and their spouses, may attend meetings or other activities of this branch,
3. No foreign nationals are permitted to participate in activities of any kind with Chinese nationals who are members of our church, and
4. Religious materials may not be disseminated to Chinese nationals in China.
Your strict observance of these rules enables us to build a foundation of trust with government authorities and enables us to continue to meet together as the government permits us to do so.”
After sacrament meeting we went to lunch at the home of President and Sister Lewis. President Lewis is the branch president of the Beijing International branch (Ji’nan is a group off this branch) and Sister Lewis is the Branch Relieve Society president. They fed us a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with turkey and all of the trimmings. It was really good. Lugene was set apart as the Relief Society leader of the Jinan area of the church. President Lewis told as the emotional story of how the office building was chosen as a site to hold the church meetings. They have a beautiful home in a “gated” community about 50 minutes away from the church site and away from Beijing. She has a maid who helped her prepare for the luncheon. Lugene told her it was the first time she had seen an actual oven in 3 ½ months. President Lewis is a lawyer and they have lived in China over 12 years. They have 6 children, but only one child, a son named Paul, is left at home now. They have a daughter at BYU, a daughter on a mission and other married children. They had their driver take us to the train station in a bus (a large van or small bus). They were very gracious. Their counselors also had dinner with us. They are Brother and Sister Ricks, humanitarian volunteers from Rexburg, Idaho. Also Brother and Sister Sherbert from St. George, Utah, attended. They are from California originally. They are teachers at one of the top Universities in Beijing. He teaches law.
We left their home at 3:00 p.m. to go to the train station. On the way there we saw a Papa John’s pizza establishment. In addition, we have now seen McDonalds, Pizza Hut and KFC. Apparently there is a Sizzler in Beijing as well. We got on the bullet train at 7:05 PM and arrived back at our apartment in Ji’nan about 9:00 p.m.