Beijing Day One

Our first day in China's capital began with a trip to Tiannemen Square. In the picture below, you can see The Hall of the People, China's government building, on the right, and beginning on the left, you can see the long line of people waiting to see the preserved body of Chairman Mao. We did not have the 3+ hours to wait and see. Most people in line looked to be retire people. They were the ones alive when Mao still ruled the country. He died in 1976 and I wonder if the younger generation even cares.
Just across the street is the Forbidden City, the imperial palace of the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was built in the 1400's and was still the seat of power when the empire collapsed in the early 20th century. Watch the movie, The Last Emperor, to see what the last days of the empire was like. It was filmed on location at the Forbidden City and stars Peter O'Toole. A great film in my estimation. Now, it is Mao who looks over his people and not the son of heaven, i.e. the emperor.

We walked through gate after gate and saw spectacular courtyard after spectacular courtyard. It is an amazing place. The emperor was a virtual prisoner in his own palace. Most emperors never left the palace and ruled from afar. If you are going to have a prison, this is probably the way to go. It is good to be the king.
After lunch, we set out on the actual purpose of our trip, to visit Asian schools. Below is the ivy covered walls of Beijing High School No. 50. It is a foreign language school, and all their students study English because there is an English section on their college entrance exam. According to the principal, 90% of their students continue on to university. It was a quite impressive school. The teacher had 47 students in class and they were all quiet and attentive. The class we sat in on were practicing writing a newspaper article in English about humanitarian efforts for the earthquake victims in Sichuan Province. They even interviewed one of their teachers, whose wife is a nurse went to help the victims.

;
I leave you with words of wisdom found out the gardens of the Forbidden City:

I think it means, don't litter, but I don't think I'm supposed to pick the flowers either.

Chuck Newell
Beijing
10/15/08