Beijing - Day 3 A.M. (Tian'anmen Square, Hutong Tour, and Summer Palace)

I was just going through photos and realized that day 3 was pretty huge, so I'm breaking it up a bit... First, the morning:

We went to Tian'anmen Square at 8:30 in the morning. Our guide, David, told us that he'd never been there when it was so peaceful and empty. He attributed it to the fact that it was New Year's day. It was kind of incredible to see such a vast expanse of empty concrete:



My brain kept flashing back to the image of the young man stopping the line of tanks in 1989. David also touched on that incident, and let us know about the differing accounts of how many died - depending on who you ask (foreigners who were there at the time, the Chinese government, the Chinese Red Cross, etc) the number fluctuates between 200 soldiers killed and thousands of civilians killed. It was unnerving to imagine bodies and blood filling that empty square.

The only major interruption in the flatness was a 10-story monument in the middle:

This has an inscription of Mao's handwriting which says "Eternal Glory to the People's Heroes," referring to those who fought for Mao's New China.

There is also the Chinese flag on an enormous flagpole, guarded sunup to sundown by three guards - two at the base, one pacing all around.


And here is the Man himself, Chairman Mao, whose huge picture graces the front of one of the initial gates between Tian'anmen and the Forbidden City.


His body is still on display at a mausoleum at the square, but it wasn't open that day. He had requested to be cremated, but the people wanted to believe in his eternal life, so they have his body displayed in a crystal coffin.

After the Square, we were off to a traditional Hutong. Hutongs are neigborhoods of small alleys built around a courtyard. There used to be about 6,000 in Beijing, but the government has torn them down to the point where there are only about 1,000 left. We got a chance to visit one in the coolest possible way - via rickshaw!



Here is our driver, Artie (R.D.... Rickshaw Driver...)


After we saw a bit of the Hutong,


Artie let me drive the rickshaw! This is the picture he snapped just before I ran right into him:


He decided it was time to take over again, so I let him drive and filmed a bit of the Hutong to share with you!


After our rickshaw tour, we went down an especially narrow alley to visit a family in their Hutong home.


This woman and her husband have lived in the Hutong for over 50 years. They were incredibly generous to share their home with us, and the woman never stopped smiling the whole time. She got a kick out of us trying to say "Happy New Year" in Chinese:


We learned that most of these homes are now basically "welfare housing" for low-income families... and most don't have a private toilet - they use the public toilets located around the Hutong.

Robin (our guide for this mini-tour) also taught us about a popular pastime in the Hutong neighborhoods: Cricket Fighting. Apparently they take their cricket fighting seriously... they have all the tools for catching, feeding, poop-scooping, and aggravating their crickets! The family was kind enough to let Robin show off their tools:



I think I'm going to start Cricket Fighting League in Korea... Maybe someone can get something going back home, too :)

After the Hutong we traveled to the Summer Palace. The Summer Palace was originally built for a woman affectionately referred to as the Dragon Lady. This woman was a Concubine of an emperor who sucessfully arranged for both her son and her nephew to become emperors of China (their "rule" was really just a face - she was always the "power behind the throne," as the Chinese say). She also killed her own three-month-old daughter, who was beloved by the Emperor, and framed the Empress, leading to the Empress's being cast out of the Forbidden City. Quite an ambitious gal!

A prime example of her hunger for power is in the statues in front of one of the throne buildings at the Palace:

Dragon (representing the Emperor):


Phoenix (representing the Empress):


Now ordinarily, the Dragon is on the inside, closest to the doors (because the Emperor is the most important), and the Phoenix on the outside. She had the statues switched around at the Summer Palace, to show HER influence over the throne. Quite a rise to power for a former Concubine!

The Palace grounds also hold the Longest Corridor in the World - which is covered with over 14,000 paintings. Pretty amazing:


The Palace itself is really beautiful - it sits on a 2.2 square kilometer manmade lake (Kunming Lake), which was mostly frozen over when we were there (and some CRAZY people were actually out walking on it!)



Ok, that's enough for today. I'm extremely tired, and I think you have enough pictures to look at :) But remember Kunming Lake - it comes back in our story in Day 3, Part Two!

Bonus pics for today:

Our tour guide, David (an awesome guy!) and me finally gaining a little control over the rickshaw (with Artie's help):





Love you all!