China - The Land of the Rising Sun

(picture edited and taken from: http://www.chinapioniere.de/wp-content/uploads/2006/08/fish.jpg)

• The official language is Mandarin, a dialect of Chinese
• The currency is the Renmibi (RND), also called the yuan (CNY)
• No immunizations are required unless you are traveling from an area affected by yellow fever
• Air China is the national airline
• The Canadian embassy is located in Beijing
- There are consulates located in Hong Kong and Shanghai
• A valid passport is required for six months after your departure date
• A tourist visa is also required
- This must be obtained before departure
• All foreign travelers must register a place of residence with the local Public Security Board within 24 hours of arrival in China
- It is usually done as a part of the registration process at hotel check-in
- If you are staying with family or friends, you must register on your own
• Beijing is the capital city of China, and second largest after Shanghai
• The 2008 Summer Olympics will be held in Beijing
• The majority of Chinese people follow Buddhist religion
• Taxi drivers do not speak English
- It is advised you get the directions written out Chinese for you
• Respect and follow local laws
- A serious violation may lead to a jail or death sentence

The day has finally come!! We didn’t get any sleep because we are all way too excited about our trip to China. We board our 11:00am flight with Air Canada to Beijing. Non-stop flights from Calgary don’t exist so our first stop in Vancouver, BC. It was just a quick hour and a half flight. We changed planes and are off to Beijing an hour later. This portion of the flight was very long, just over 10 hours. Don’t ever expect much if you are flying Air Canada. We were fed on the second leg of our journey; however, the meal was nothing to write home about. We all regretted not bring our own snacks. We arrived on time in Beijing the next day at 3:30pm. We are feeling a bit groggy but the adrenaline quickly kicks in and we are ready to start our adventure.

We've already planned out our route. We'll be starting in Beijing and then moving to Xian. From there we will joining our Yangtze River cruise in Chongquin and we'll end our trip in Shanghai. This is what our route through China looks like.

Our travel route through China
www.askasia.org/map/teachers/map.php?no=41

Hi everybody! We began our first day of touring Beijing and we were all so excited. We started in one of the most well known areas of the city…Tiananmen Square. It is located in the centre of the city and is most famous for the protests that took place there in 1989 (1), where hundreds of activists were slaughtered here by the Chinese Liberal Government in one of the most controversial political movements of all time. It was so strange to be standing in the same spot such a famous event (and picture!) took place. We found the square itself wasn’t incredibly scenic. It is the many political events that have taken place here that give the square its fame. The square is open all day long and admission is free (2). From the square, we made our way over the Forbidden City , called Gu Gong in Chinese. The City borders Tiananmen Square (1) and it houses the famous Temple of Heaven (2). It was such an amazing site, but a little overwhelming! The City was the Chinese Imperial Palace from the Ming Dynasty and for five centuries served as the home of the Emperor. Admission was only 40 yuan and it took us about 3 hours to tour the grounds of the City. Tonight we’re headed out for a Chinese delicacy,peking duck, and some karaoke at one of the hundreds of karaoke bars in the city. Wish us luck as we brave the stage!

Tiananmen Square
www.britannica.com/eb/art/print?=84955

The Gates of the Forbidden City
www.garbocathdral.blogspot.com

The Temple of Heaven in the Forbidden City
www.commons.wikimedia.org

Lots of information to catch you up on today! We decided to spend yesterday touring around the city and markets, tasting the local street fare and basically just watching how the city runs. We enlisted the services of a local rickshaw to usher us around Beijing. It was a great way to see all the different parts of the city! We just got back from seeing the most amazing site we have seen so far, the Great Wall. We visited the Badaling section of the Wall, located just an hours drive north from Beijing. The Wall was originally a fortification to protect China from the intrusion of northern nomadic tribes and stretches over 6500 kilometers (1). It was huge! With our admission of 45 yuan (2), we were able to walk along the Wall, along with a large number of other tourists. The most popular way tourists see the Great Wall is in large groups as a part of tour, so it was crowded. The Great Wall took hundreds of years to complete and an estimated 3 million Chinese workers died during its construction and it is rumored some of their bodies were buried within the Wall. It was creepy knowing what we may be walking on, but it made standing on the Wall even more exciting. It was recently named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, which makes sense, because we all agreed it was one of the most amazing sights we had ever seen. It was amazing to stand on such an enormous and historic site, It had definitely been one of the highlights of the trip! Tomorrow we’re headed for Xian, so we’ll write more then!

The Great Wall of China
www.facts-about-china/blogspot.com

The Great Wall
www.picschina.com

In the morning, we took a bus from Beijing to a city called Xian. The bus ride took forever! It was honking at least once every 10 minutes for the cars in front to go faster or to get the bicycles attention to get out of the way! But the good thing was that we got to see the inner mainland of China and away from the cities. I managed to snap a few photos during the bus ride and here are 3 of them.

Grassy fields
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/188/407427853_f4fe111fed_o.jpg

Cyclist transporting goods
http://www.endless-highway.info/tokyolondon/Img0102.jpg

Farm land
http://www.longpassages.org/images/China_Yangshuo_farm_scene.jpg