Category: Travel

Family time at the Temple

Personal Update, Travel

It was Saturday and the day was free for most Chinese in Beijing.

Something I have come privy to while here is that the Chinese work very long and hard everyday. Sometimes they don’t get a day off for weeks. They work most everyday and while their hours may technically be 8:30am-5:30, they end up working till 9pm. I have seen many people who I am becoming friends with tell me the hours they work. They do not get paid hourly, but rather monthly. The money isn’t all too much from what I gather, though I haven’t asked for exact numbers, as I have always considered that a rude question.

Charissa and I decided to go to the Temple of Heaven. The Temple of Heaven was a place that the Emperor would perform the annual prayer for a good harvest. It was a huge event that would take place.

The Temple of Heaven was located in the middle of a fairly large park, and as Charissa and I were walking, we came across many Chinese enjoying the park on a Saturday like most any human would. Freedom from the city, get your Zen on.

It was a fairly organized park, with lots of benches, small flocks of birds I had never seen before and trees that were a foot in diameter and about 40-50 ft (15 metres) tall.

As we approached further, we came across a cool looking temple with a large moat around it. A moat is a ditch around the building that is filled with water. The building itself looked lovely with green tiles and we came to find out this was a place the Emperor would “fast” at for three days prior to the ritual. He would abstain from food, drink, women, and the stately affairs.

Then when the day came, he would perform the ritual of praying for the good harvest in the Temple of Heaven.

The Emperor was considered a “Son of heaven” and a person who was considered divine. He was a part of earth and heaven. The colors sybolized this through Gold, Blue and Green. The colors of heaven, earth and the mortal world.

As we trekked around, taking photos, doing our tourist thing, I noticed how many families were around. It was so sweet to see three generations together spending time with each other, loving the young children, walking around. There were also a number of couples who were enjoying each other on the benches and walking.

Family is important and while in China public displays of affection may not be as common as in other countries, the feeling exists and it was nice to see it in a peaceful setting like a park.

We just took a sleeper car to Xi’an and I am staying in one of the coolest hostels ever. More to come~~~!

Xie xie,

Xiao En (Chinese name)

“Let’s go see Mao”

Personal Update, Travel

“Let’s go see Mao.” My sister said to me today as I woke up from my room.

Mao Zedong, the communist leader of China, who reigned from 1945-1976, whose face is on the front gate of the Forbidden city and every piece of currency in the country.

Some call Mao a dictator, some call him a savior, some call him a most unjust man, whose policies killed millions of people, who took away Tibet. Some call him the one who united China, who brought China to the greater world. Whatever he is to whoever, he is still honored around the country, and in the center of Tian’amen square is a Mausoleum with Mao resting, cryogenically frozen and lifted up for display to the public every day except Monday.

Back when I came to China in 2002, it was 10 USD to come see him. I heard the body might be fake, so I decided not to walk through the Mausoleum. Now that I am back and it’s free, my curiosity is asking “what the heck does this look like??”

It’s kinda creepy to have a body of a man, a leader who died over 35 years ago and whose leadership was controversial still be honored and revered. I recognize the amount of propaganda the Chinese received throughout the past 60 years and after Mao died, though his policies were reversed and his strongest opponent, Deng Xiopeng, succeeded him, he wasn’t burnt, or had his face removed from all public arenas. His statue did not come tumbling down, he remained a figure. Fascinating.

Some would say his ideals and figurehead kept a nation of over a billion people together. I mean, what WOULD happen, if China as a whole fully rebelled and sought new ways of living, new ways of freedom and dare I say justice? I’m not an expert nor a Chinese historian, so maybe unleashing China could be chaotic, hurtful and many could die. Whatever could happen is a spectulation, what is happening, is that tens of thousands of people come every day to see his body in the
Mausoleum.

It was like Disney on crack. There were thousands of people in line, all moving at a moderate pace, as you cannot sit and stare at the resting place of Mao. You cannot take any photos, no lighters, no heavy objects, no weapons. You can purchase a white flower for 3 quai (50 cents) to lay down at his statue before walking into the room where he lays.

What a trip. My sis almost didn’t want to go once she saw the spectacle of this massive line wrapping around the building with people in suits and white gloves holding mini megaphones telling you how to behave yourself and what not to bring in as you go in. You need to show valid ID, you cannot bring in cameras, etc…

As we walked in, many laid down these white flowers at the statue. From my eye, i’d say 1/6 of the masses of the people were buying these and then as they entered, they would do a short bow and lay a flower at a flower cart before a giant white statue of Mao seated. People of all ages were doing this. Parents were bringing their children. Was my perception and information of Mao wrong and false? Had he not killed millions of people during the Cultural Revolution from 1966-76? Had he not unjustly taken Tibet in 1959? There could still be a lot for me to learn..

As we walked in the Mausolem room, there were two guards in the front of a glass enclosed room. In front of the room was two fire extinguishers. Guess somebody tried to set this place on fire at one time. In the glass room was another glass case with Mr. Mao laying down, an eerie orange light glowing down on his face and a red flag with a sickle and hammer laying over the casket. As I looked closely at the face, I recognized it had to be a fake. I’ve been to wax museums before, and if this body has been preserved for 35 years, his face would most definitely be sagging a lot more. It was a weird scene.

My sister and I concluded that it couldn’t of been the real Mao under the casket. And if that were true, then WHY is China deceiving all these millions of chinese that come in every year to see his body?? Deception is a part of life here in this country, but I didn’t think it would be on this scale.

Maybe it’s an ideal to live up to, maybe it’s to continue to have his legacy live on. Maybe it’s to keep the powers that be in power, and keep a nation intact. I’m sorry, but I don’t have the highest respect for this man after reading my history. Is my history true? Please comment~

I think it would be difficult to allow this Mausoleum removed, though the mausoleum does say it is a place to honor former leaders of China. Who knows? Maybe someone else will replace Mao in time.

I think I will ask some locals what they think of Mao yesterday and today. What about the youth? This still is a communist nation with secret police, so I’ll be sensitive. But this nation is changing and in a way “awakening.”

Ciao for now~

The Great What?

Travel

Well Day 4 here in Beijing, and it was time to see The GREAT WALL.

Wedding picture on Great Wall

Contrary to popular belief, the Wall cannot be seen from space. This was confirmed by Chinese Astronaut Yang Liwei in 2003.

The Wall stretches out for some 5000 kilometres, and kept most armies out from the North. Especially those barbaric Mongols. Now today, there are multiple areas one can visit the wall at. Yesterday, My sister and I decided to go to the Mutianyu location. We met at a local hostel, was provided with a choice of either Swiss or American breakfast, (we chose the swiss, which included muesli, toast, butter, jam and a cheese slice. some scrambled eggs too) and jumped on a chartered bus, capacity 20 to head to The GREAT WALL.

It was a pleasant drive for most of the way. Some horn honking, which is a bit more commonplace than say, New York city, traffic in this city is pretty all over the place. While it isn’t the most craziest driving I have participated in, it is not as linear and straight as the United States is. Lots of bike, taxis, buses, carts, bicycle carts, pedestrians, scooters. Go when you can, watch out.

I will post pictures, very soon, but the Wall was great. We hiked on and around it for a couple hours and enjoyed reading about its history. The views were nice as we were in a mountainous area. I recommend each person to see this wall at least once in life, maybe twice like me. 🙂

Many many people from all over the world congregated here. I heard Portuguese, French, English, Aussie English, German, Dutch, Fillipino, Japanese, italian etc. It was neat to experience a unique part of the world with all these different cultures.

As I surveyed the wall again for the second time in life, I was reminded of what I truly find beautiful in this world. While visiting the Pyramids, Taj Mahal and Great wall were all a pleasure to see and to appreciate how humans built such structures at periods of our history, they don’t give me that feeling of Wow, this is amazing as much as say, a waterfall, an ocean, mountain, forest or animals in the wild might.

It is something to visit this wall. To think that it was built over hundreds of years. For what? To keep others out. Many people died building this wall and i’m sure many died trying to scale this wall. It is an important part of history and how life was in this time.

In future travels, I see myself seeking out natural wonders of the world, and hopefully participating (from a distance) some of the unique migrations of animals that take place. There is so much to see…

Pictures will come! I promise!

Sunrise on the Jinshanling Great Wall

Much Love, thank you for praying~

Louboutins and the Art of bargaining

Travel

Shoes shoes shoes, and purses, wallets, belts, shirts, more wallets, purses, shoes, shoes, shoes and some sunglasses. Welcome to the Silk Market!

Christian Louboutin shoes

Welcome to China, land of the “knock off” designer brands. The real stuff is made here, and so through the connections of people and so forth, very VERY similar styles are created. It is amazing how close they look, and for a fraction of the price (think 1/40) then you can score some very stylish get ups. My sister couldn’t wait, she jumped in and I assisted her as a good big brother experienced in the “art of bargaining.”

I’ve been to markets all over the world, my first experience in bargaining was found in Mazatlan, Mexico back in 1995. Since then I have bartered in the Caribbean, India, Egypt and China. This market for those who know bargaining I would rate on a scale as a 6.5~

The chinese weren’t overly aggressive and would be quiet if you weren’t interested and you can get a good bargain. I drove hard bargains all over, typing in numbers on calculators and playing the game. My sister, being a first timer to bargaining, was blown away at the whole escapade of the bargain and how crazy people can get. The Market!

We had a successful day of shopping, and picked up some purses and shoes. While I would of advised not to acquire so much in the beginning of a trip, it’s not too much of a hassle and it’s not like we’re backpacking around mountains or anything.

Today we go to the GREAT WALL. It’s a little after 6am and we’re off soon and then a train to XI’AN.

Much love~

Shawn

Breakfast in Beijing

Personal Update, Travel

Breakfast in Beijing.

I woke up this morning in a small hotel room thinking it was the afternoon and my sister had been waiting in the airport for me for a couple hours. Rest assured she is still in the air and it was just 8:20 in the morning, even though I tried to find the time on TV, i just called dialed 8080 and got the front desk.

Beijing i am here! It is good to be back again. Thanks to my friends, I flew BUSINESS ELITE in Delta on my 11 hour flight to Beijing. That was the shortest flight i have ever taken in my life 🙂

I got in, exchanged some cash which I obtained at the ATM in Seatac, got my bag and hopped on a taxi. It took a couple of body signals and someone who spoke a bit of english to communicate where i was going, though I had a map of my destination in Mandarin. We were off!

As I was driving in this cab, which is like a 4 door sedan of sorts, I was getting excited. Here i was again, on the road, in a different land and it was so easy to get here. 11 hours from Seattle is like going to the UK. I noticed how the buildings were mostly all dark, something quite different from the states in how we keep most of our buildings lit. Probably a public relations thing for all the tourists who take photographs. How much energy do we consume by keeping our buildings on? How much security is insured by keeping them on…my mind wanders…

So, i get in, get to my hotel/hostel which is Kings Joy and check in. Get to my room, its 11pm and I’m not really tired. I just hopped on a flight at 730 pm from Seattle and here i am in Beijing at 10:30pm! And I slept about 5 hours of my flight. I figured i could drink a beer before going to bed and so i went upstairs to the bar that was located on the top of my hotel.

As i order a Tsingtao, a man immediately inquired to me. “Hey mate, how are you?” British guy. We kicked it off and made pals. This guy was a Pakistani british citizen here in china and he was going to university here in the country for one month. While he was on the path of drinking himself silly like most 20 year olds might, i was content just sticking to my beer and chit chatting, which we did.

I met some local chinese at the lounge and asked them about Facebook and censorship, where they were from, and if china changed. They agreed, China has changed and that even though china censors Facebook, you can still access. as I write to you now, there is a note on my computer in the hotels internet cafe that says ” CLICK fg707x.exe can get on Facebook.” 🙂 Can’t stop the net.

Brilliant. Well, as the night went on I went to another pub, met some Chinese police officers, whether they were secret or not, i don’t know but they were kind and offered me some of their Tsingtao brew and lamb kabob, to which i happily accepted. We talked about china, fashion, the states. Good times. I was even able to write my name on a brick in this pub with a fairly large black marker. So if you go to Bar. 098 near the Forbidden city, pat my brick down and think of me 🙂

By 1am i was tired and I moved into going back to my room. I enjoyed a short evening meeting local Beijiners and people who moved from Hubei or another province to the city. Much like americans or people in other countries do. And yes. China has changed. A lot. I am anxious to see just how much and what is in store for this country of 1.5 BILLION people. I am also curious to see if china has a soul. More to come…

New journal for Shawn Saleme, on the net!

Personal Update, Travel

China. The Overland route~

Welcome to the journal my friends. Thank you for your time to read and reflec and keep informed about where I am, what I write about. I am not writing this blog for my own self memory, though I have picked up a small journal for that purpose.

I write on this blog to tell stories to my friends and people around the world about the perspective I see, experiences encountered and people. Food and drinks, nature and transportation, intelligent discussion and social issues, may or may not be included in this blog. 🙂

I’m in a coffee shop in the states now. I enjoyed a cup of peppermint tea and some fruit and yogurt. Prior to travel and prior to a long flight (12-15 hours) it is good to prepare your body for changes and put healthy items before the flight. Yogurt provides good probiotics to the body and peppermint tea also assists and strengthens the immune system.

Just in case of stomach issues, I have acquired my own stash of amoxicillen. Anti-biotics when you travel internationally are good to have with you. You can go to the pharmacies in other countries, but they may or may not have been given the proper medical testing and trials that goes into making such drugs.

Alas, I need to pack. I fly out in about 9 hrs, and I have all my essentials. I just need to put it in the case. I picked up a fast dry towel, and a small medical kit yesterday. I also picked up a new suit. In China, dressing up is respectful and essential to beginning and maintaining good relationships. At least in business, governmental and medical arenas.

It’s a sunny day in Seattle, good omen for travel.

Thank you for reading and future reading. If you consider yourself a spiritual individual or family, I would ask for your prayers for protection as I go to China. And with my sister! We shall have a lovely time, no doubt.

Time to go,

Shawn