Monthly Archives: June 2019

Sunday, May 26

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Sarah Ajise & Marissa Yee

Hi blog!

Today was a free day in Beijing. Many of us decided to head to the Temple of Heaven in the morning, which was a short 15-minute walk from our hotel. The Temple of Heaven is a three-tier circular temple. It was a lot larger than it seemed in pictures! We also walked around in the surrounding park, where a lot of locals were practicing Tai Chi and playing mahjong.

Corridor at the Temple of Heaven

Students in front of the Temple of Heaven

We met our Beijing Normal students at the Xidan Station later in the morning. Although the sky was gloomy when we entered the subway, it was pouring rain when we got out 20 minutes later. The Hot Pot research team visited many hot pot restaurants in various Xidan area malls. There was even an entire floor dedicated to hot pot restaurants in one of the malls. Our Beijing students were so helpful in finding new restaurants for us to visit and conduct research. For lunch, Hot Pot team, Pop & Sicle team, and Makeup Moguls ate at Haidilao, a trendy hot pot chain in China. Known for their service, the servers continued to bring us warm towels, pour us sweet tea, and switch our plates. The restaurant even had food service robots and toothbrushes in the restrooms. Definitely a favorite meal for many!

On the Beijing subway

The Brew Crew and Team Tampon met up at a different hot pot restaurant not far from the other teams. Since only one person could speak Chinese, ordering lunch was a bit challenging. With the help of Google Translate and Jerry’s beginner Chinese skills, we managed to eat some really delicious food. We didn’t eat a whole lot since there was a language barrier, and none of us wanted to struggle to communicate with the waitress. As a result, we found our way to KFC and had surprisingly good food; some would say it was even better than American KFC!

Beijing book store

After lunch, Hot Pot team, Pop & Sicle team, and Makeup Moguls continued to research in the Xidan area. In the afternoon we headed to Silk Street, which is known to sell fake goods. Emma was especially good at bargaining and purchased matching Peppa the Pig T-shirts for herself and her sister. Brew Crew and Team Tampon went back to the hotel to rest after their lunch. Later, they met up with the rest of the class for dinner in Sanlitun, an area of Beijing known for its walkability and nightlife. Some of us ate Xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) and the rest of the group ate at Blue Frog. It was definitely a fun last night in Beijing!

Soup Dumplings – called xiao long bao in Chinese

Catch us on tomorrow’s blog!

Beijing Day Two – 5/25

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Emma Cockerell

Hello blog! My name is Emma Cockerell, and on team Pop & Sicle (you’re correct in your assumption that we’re analyzing popsicle advertising!).

On our second full day in Beijing, we went to Juyongguan section of the Great Wall. The bus journey was a long one, so a group of us passed the time by playing Sushi Go. Others, weary from the early start, took the opportunity to nap.

At the base of the wall, we took some obligatory group photos, and began the ascent to the top of the wall (where top is the highest point that we had access to). Some, like Marissa and Noah, charged ahead and reached the top in an impressive 40 minutes. Others, me included, took a more leisurely pace. The trek was much more difficult than I had anticipated, and I’m sure many of us felt a similar swelling of pride when reaching the top. While the view was breathtaking, the surrounding mountains were cloaked in a thick smog, which surprised me given how far we were from central Beijing.

The class proudly unfurled the banner and held it up for a photo atop the Great Wall. Almost the entire class made it to the top!

Team Pop & Sicle poses for a photo atop the Great Wall.

After a thigh-burning return to the base and a short bus ride, we reached a cloisonné factory that doubled as a lunch spot for tourists. It was really fascinating to learn about how cloisonné vases are crafted, and I have so much admiration for the artists who spend hours painting layer over layer onto each vase. Lunch itself was the classic un-Chinese tourist fare, but filling nonetheless, and after waiting for the bus in scorching heat we arrived at the Ming tombs.

A cloisonne maker painstakingly paints a fresh layer onto this beautiful azure vase.

We walked through tranquil courtyards and various buildings to reach the mountain in which the Emperor Hu Di was buried, which featured a self-locking marble door leading to his tomb (which was not open to us to see, unfortunately). Later, we drove past groves of cherry trees to reach another part of the Ming tombs, in which a long walkway was flanked by marble statues of court officials, military people, and animals (including a cute elephant!).

A line of Ming statues stretches into the distance. This one specifically depicts a court official.

By the time we got back to the bus, we were all knackered and ready for naps, but still opted to visit the Olympic Village. Sarah and Jerry were extremely popular with the many Chinese tourists strolling around the plaza, and both took the attention like champs. With our brief 35 minutes, we were able to see the Bird’s Nest stadium and the water cube, which were impressive architectural marvels.

Connor poses with one of the five 2008 Beijing Olympics mascots, Ying Ying.

After Olympic Village, we went to Quan Ju De, a classic Beijing destination known for its Peking Duck (which we learned was traditionally made by blowing air between the skin and duck meat). After I made a toast to our tenacity, we dug into the meal. My table played “rose, bud, thorn”, where we recounted what we enjoyed about the day, what we were looking forward to, and what wasn’t so great. We enjoyed crispy duck meat wrapped in thin sleeves with cucumber and hoisin sauce. The meal was a great end to a great day!

Welcome to Beijing, here’s the old and the new! – May 24

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Noah Blackman

Hey There, Mr. Mao

Hey y’all, its Noah again with the Global East Asia blog post reporting from Beijing, China! Our first full day here is one for the memory books. We begin our day by drudging through the dense Beijing traffic on our way to the historical center of the Chinese capital, The Forbidden City, which is surrounded by Tiananmen Square and other important sites.

Beijing Traffic…

Tiananmen Square, similar to the city it centers, is a bustling scene. Quickly my peers and I discovered that the Chinese tourism market is not inhabited purely by foreigners such as ourselves, but many Chinese nationals from outside cities and “China Proper” come and join tour groups as well. The timing for visiting the site was quite interesting, for it was nearly 30 years ago that the 1989 June student protests happened on the ground in which we stood, reminding us of the enormous freedoms we experience in the US. The Square itself houses the mausoleum where late Chairman Mao rests, mummified on public display to allow spectators and mourners to come appreciate, or contemplate, Mao’s contributions to China. We did not get to visit due to the site being closed for the day, none-the-less we explored the rest of the square which included the National People’s Congress, the National Museum of China, and the Monument to the People’s Heroes, a 30+ foot tall memorial to the revolutionaries who shaped China after the fall of the Qing Dynasty.

Panoramic shot of the bustling square

The square led to the entrance to the Forbidden City, where the Qing and Ming emperors governed their kingdom. Seeing the palace was an event that astonished me due to the fact that one person used to have the whole complex as their home, not a bad time at all. Everything was elegant, strong, and meticulously designed to fit the standards of the most important figures in China. My favorite part of the city was the garden by the north gate.

Forbidden City Gardens

Forbidden City

After we left the Forbidden City we went back to modernity in Wangfujing, a consumer center with a large variety of shopping and dining locations, complete with robots who would assist you in finding whatever product you’re looking for. When we got there all the research groups split up and we officially began our fieldwork!

Customer Assistance Robot

After fieldwork, different groups met up and went out for our first solo dinners in China. Personally, I went and had BBQ, one of my favorite types of food. There was no better way to end the first day in China than with some great food and even better company.

BBQ on a stick!