Two brief updates from Mr Irvine, who is having some trouble accessing the
blog while in China.
Apologies for the sporadic nature of these updates!
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We finally arrived at the Rainbow Hotel in Beijing on Friday, around 1 am local Time.
After a short sleep we were up again. I was really pleased to see the students
trying typical Chinese breakfast food, the small white dumplings were
delicious. We are now on a bus heading north, a 60km bus journey, to the Great
Wall. We are having a lesson on Chinese language, characters and culture en
route.
Unfortunately my iPad seems unable to access my China Blog when I am in the
hotel. I will try my best to keep you updated on our Chinese adventure.
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Hello, here is a brief update on our trip so far; on Saturday afternoon most of
the group climbed to the 3rd tower on the part of the Great Wall that we
visited. To encourage us to climb right to the top, we were told that those who
made it right to the top would be hailed "Ying Xiong" by our guides
when we returned to the bottom. "Ying Xiong" translates as Heroes.
The early morning rain did not put us off, the plastic ponchos that we
purchased for 10 Yuan at the start of the walk were soon removed as we began to
climb. We found that they were making us more wet that the light rain as
it was so hot and humid.
After a very full Chinese buffet lunch, we visited the Ming tombs and learned
how the landscape of the area mimicked an emperor's throne, running from the
mountains down to the water. Each emperor had his own tomb built before he
died.
Next we followed the Sacred Way,
a beautiful walkway lined with statues of animals and warriors and
learned what each one represented. We were surprised to learn that these
statues were 600 years old.
On our way back to the city, we were taken to a jade factory and gift store
where we watched workers craft beautiful ornaments and we learned about the
different types of jade.
After dinner we were taken to the Chinese acrobat show, an award winning,
stunning display of virtuoso.
A very tiring, fun packed day that left us desperate for a soft pillow in a
darkened room.
Tomorrow the sun will be out and Tiannamen scare, the Forbidden
City and the summer palace await
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