Field School Finale

The bitter-sweet last day is here as a full free day. It felt a little odd for me knowing I got to stay longer, but what I was going to miss the most was the group, and at the same time I looked forward to having the mobility of not being in a big group.

We spent the entire day at the Summer Palace. The only potential Vancouver equivalent would have to be Stanley Park. The size of this place! We spent all day there and only saw a small portion of it. When we finally found the East exit is was over 2km to the South exit. China does both big and small very well. Big population, massive skyscrapers, endless dishes of food, sprawling tombs, snaking walls, large scale projects and statistics with big numbers. The small would be tiny cups of tea, little desserts, minimal space hotel rooms, showers the spray onto the toilet to make use of space, and little bowls to eat food from.

The beginning was clogged with people and I couldn't imagine us staying as it seemed there was always someone yelling at me to get out of the picture. However, this method of breaking up the masses by providing different directions tunnels and distractions actually led to many secret spots where one could be alone and the further we ventured in the more people spaced out and the Summer Palace appeared just as spectacular as it should.

The original Summer Palace was destroyed by the French and British forces and this one is not in the original spot, so this the Disneyland of history is actually a complete re-creation.

We raced back to the Hu Tong to catch our debrief meeting at 5:00, before our last family style dinner including delicious Peking duck. I wish I could eat some of that duck now.

We shared the big moments we were going to take away from this Field School and I couldn't agree more with some of the thoughts. The significance of China in the world today should not be undermined, or seen as a threat, or a burden. Chinese culture is all about making real relationships, and it is also a culture in transition to a more individualistic nature. The same goes for international students, they should not be viewed as a burden to your group project, they offer an edge from what may be -globally- the majority view. Chinese students who speak with an accent or with poor grammar are not necessarily bad student, Chinese language has little grammar so it would make sense that learning English would be very difficult.

The China Field School will go down as a turning point in my life, it has definitely changed the way I see the world for the better. Thank you so much for this experience!

Hip To Be Tiananmen Square

Today we had out visit to the BC trade office. I have no idea that provincially we held so many offices overseas for trade. Since the notorious Beijing cough had set it it was nice to see the table had actual Canadian water, a taste I wouldn't get for sometime.

The presentation was a fascinating story of the trade relations the BC continues to form and just how many sectors it's in.

In order to give ourselves a full day of free time tomorrow we moved our visit to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden Palace to today. I was so prepared that the square would be big that it actually felt smaller than my expectations. I think in both atmosphere and size it would compare to Playland if it was completely void of rides and building but there were still people there. Te creepy part about the Square had to be the excessive policing and control, all very indirect. It just wasn't the place to step out of in, and that was understood without signs or written rules. Also strange that there was zero recognition or even a clue regarding the Tiananmen Square Massacre. No even vendors hawking Tank Man T-shirts. It's just not something that would happen considering that the government that was in power at the time is still the government in power, and no one want to lose face by acknowledging something so shameful.



The Forbidden Palace had its entry was garnish with the token picture of Chairman Mao. I was also told the Forbidden Palace would be huge, and in definitely was. The concubines alone must've taken a fifth of that space for their own living quarters. The best view was from the temple behind the Forbidden Palace which we went to see afterwards. It wasn't just the size, it was the detail and how much had been preserved so perfectly, it's definitely something that the Chinese people are and should be proud of.



Then we hopped on a local bus to check out another market near by. I hear from the girls who went in that the bartering was a lot tougher there and the prices were much higher. I had some more delicious Chinese ice cream before a group of us moved on to the bar street nearby for some food. unfortunately we fund out that Western food in China is rarely cheap or accurate.

The Great All and Everything

Tuesday May 13th, 2014 my first time on The Great Wall of China.

As Adam informed us this whole, see the wall from space thing just isn't true, but you can still see it from far away. Just like the Big Buddha it peaked out of the haze and I had myself wondering "Is that really it or am I just that excited to see the Great Wall that I'm imagining it?"

Yet another great excitement for the Skyride operator abroad: Gondola to the Great Wall! This time there was no wind and no stopping, just picture taking.

My entire emotional experience on the Great Wall could be summed up in three points. The first was that its size and history made me feel so small, and insignificant. Only a collectivist culture could really pull off some of the most amazing things in this world, a whole bunch of small people can break expectations and build a colossal wall. Second was the feeling that like I just had an invigorating pep-talk, like a coach getting his team pumped up in the locker room, something about being on the Great Wall made me feel like my potential was so high. The third emotional experience would be how feeling small and feeling motivated sort of inspired me and made me really enthusiastic to go even farther than I thought I could (even up all those stairs when it was starting to get hot out.



The Great Wall experience ended with a toboggan ride off the side of the wall to the parking lot. Toboggan how? There's no snow. How about in a metal tube on wheeled carts!



Our bus ride full of napping and snacking took us to the Ming Tombs. Located between scared peaks in a river valley this was thought to be the optimal space for the tombs. The Ming was the second to last dynasty and probably my favourite of the Chinese dynasties. It was the Chinese renaissance, and a time of exploration and trade.Since this last dynasty was a just over 500 years ago the tombs and artefacts were well intact.



This full day finished up with a big meal and a lot of much needed sleep.

Temple.Pearl.Dumpling

The most impressive highlight of the day had to be the Temple of Heaven.

We kept a watch for ladies organizing a choreographed dance, and walked around sucking on 2 ¥ popsicles. Kathryn's presentation was so thorough that even our tour guide, Liu (Leo?), was very impressed.

The Temple of Heaven itself is HUGE and it has to be. Since Heaven was above the Emperor there had to be more land for Heaven than for the Emperor. The site was beautiful and very historical, and unfortunately clogged with tourist such as ourselves.

The group later migrated to another juxtaposition shoppers Heaven: The Pearl Market. My own experience was an interesting one, when I was younger I liked bartering to get the lowest price for what I wanted. Now that I care about people more and stuff less I find the game of bartering to be more and more of an awkward one. Along with some very aggressive sales people, I didn't spend a lot of time actually shopping. I did of course leave with a couple postcards, two masks, and a Chinese flag patch for my backpack. This trip to the market felt for some as the last chance to buy what you want. For me I still had a long way to go and that money is better spent on food anyway.

Back at the Hu Tong  we had a short dumpling making class. Throughout the rest of my China experience I silently judged the dumplings served to me. In Xi'an there was one plate where I knew I could've made dumplings ten times as better. Xi'an, not famous for dumplings.

Believing Beijing

This long day involved our flight to Beijing -delayed. Thankfully, like almost all flights there was an in flight meal. It was completely average.

Coming into Beijing from the sky (and this time it's daylight!) it was possible to see the coal burning plants, the snaking rivers, and the confusingly dispersed city. Beijing more than anywhere seems to lack a distinct downtown, and that's not to say it's not developed. The downtown would be huge if all of these areas were packed into one, but you probably wouldn't want to do that.

In Beijing we stayed at a Hu Tong, this is sort of a network of courtyard houses. While our Hu Tong stay was in a hostel, my experience felt really positive since being in the Deluxe Suite which had a fish pond, a ping pong table, and walls of ornaments and books.



Our short stop in the Hu Tong was interrupted for the Peking acrobats show. The acrobats went absolutely above and beyond for their audience. So much that some people couldn't even watch. When the first motorcyclist began to rip around the inside of the spherical cage  I whisper to Alex "I'm fine as long as they  don't put another guy in there." So they another six, I think.



The night wrapped up with a meal and a walk around Ho Hai. I would compare this to a sort of Granville Island place, but it's more similar to the PNE at night.

Fishing For Buddha in the Fog

Another delicious Hong Kong bakery breakfast and we hop on the subway to Lantau Island.

More excitement for the Tram Operator, a 25 minute gondola ride! I love getting some wind and an unexpected stop, and thankfully for me: we got both!

The Big Buddha emerged from the fog to remind us that the buildings aren't the only thing massive in Hong Kong. The Buddha itself was very impressive, but I was more amazed by the monetary and the vegetarian restaurant.



The respect and restraint involved in Buddhism also seemed to contrast with the some of the more individualist behaviours.

Afterwards we took a bus to a rural fishing village, it was incredible to see what non-urban life look like in Hong Kong. The houses were on stilts in one area, and as we were walking through this wharf style neighbourhood one room we passed had full on hardwood floors and a big screen TCL television, the room had decorative plants and two new recliners. You never know what to expect.



Our Bus ride back took us along the perimeter of the island and we had a change to see all of the other small villages along beautiful white sand beaches.

Then came the great juxtaposition. We paired the Big Buddha with a big Apple store. The assignment was sort of to compare the difference between business in China from Canada -what's the same and what's different. Myself and a few others were at a disadvantage for never actually being to an Apple store in Canada.

Like everywhere in China the architecture should be as accommodating as possible if everyone decided to rush into the store. This meant a very open space, and many staff members. Most of the store was similar, with the Chinese one selling more different product, but with both selling the same Apple products.

Many of the franchise businesses in China were very different from their North American counterparts. The KFC menu looked entirely different, and probably had more popularity in China. Starbucks drinks needed to be able to compete with bubble tea places so the drink flavours followed the same pattern (like the green tea red bean frappacino mentioned earlier). Packages were very minimal in their information and included specific directions, even with pictures. Then there was the presence of cartoons in almost all advertising, it seems every product requires a cute mascot.

The night wound down at the Night Market where we dined on spicy crab. The night market was similar to the one in Richmond but definitely much much larger. We walked the street sipping bubble tea and bartering desperately trying to spend the last of our Hong Kong dollars.

It definitely seems weird to think that Hong Kong will be turned over to China someday, I can't imagine that would go over well. The two have diverged and have less and less in common as they move forward.

It's A Small Globalizing World Afterall

Breakfast at the bakery, certainly one of my favourite things about Hong Kong must be all the delicious baked goods. The prices were just a little over a dollar Canadian each, it was still difficult to choose.

The Kowloon bus tour was quite similar to the Hong Kong one, right down to the rain. The rain is totally different from Vancouver rain, here we can just have good Gortex jacket, but in Hong Kong  an umbrella wouldn't even suffice.

The bus tour took us to the Hong Kong Museum. For a place geographically so small there is so much history! I really could've spent all day there. But! There was Dim Sum to eat.

It was one of the most expensive meals of the trip, but it still felt worth it. I really enjoy the family-style meals, even if splitting the bill is a little extra work. Dim Sum is also something I probably should've discovered as a picky child, it's a great opportunity to try lots of different things.

Returning to the hotel I was met with a notice regarding the fort in the hotel room. Note to self: don't build a fort in the hotel room unless you plan on taking it down yourself.

Our dinner that night (even though some of us were still full from Dim Sum) was a loud party atmosphere hosted by our donors -the Wong and Trainor behind the Centre for International Experience. The food was particularly delicious, I kept eating long after everyone had stopped. This was clearly one of those hang-out spots for people in Hong Kong, it was loud, busy and at one point some people started doing the moonwalk to Michael Jackson.

Our night finished at a former Cap students Beer Pong Bar. I really appreciate how keen people in Hong Kong (and China) are for games, usually drinking games. This bar was outfitted with table designed for Beer Pong, Dart boards, and a Ping Pong table for various games involving beers and balls. In this international city we ran into many people from North America. Even leaving in the elevator a guy was sing a song from a musical that we discovered we both saw at Granville Island theatre last summer.