All,

Here is Chad's (Mr. Smith) update on the China Trip. I understand that pictures are coming but they have some issues around internet access etc. Anyhow enjoy the update.

Jim

Day 2;

Breakfast sausages are not the same in China. They look like wieners but have the consistency of bratwurst. Not what I expected when I opened the warmer. Coffee cream is non-existent.
Each of our rooms has a slot on the wall beside the light switch where you can put your room key card. This also allows you to control the lights. What I didn’t realize was that if you take the room key out, the lights only stay on for 4 minutes after you leave the room. Oops…….sorry Mr. Peake!

I don’t think I mentioned that it was snowing when we landed in Beijing. There was about an inch of snow on the ground when we arrived and overnight we gained another inch or so. The snow gradually melted throughout the day although it did make navigating some of the steps in the Forbidden City a touch tricky.

In the morning we took a trip to a Jade factory to see how jade jewelry and statues are made. We learned how to test if the jade is of high quality or not and also how to recognize fake jade from the real jade. A number of kids picked up some trinkets for family and friends.

Next we were off to the Great Wall for a performance and for the opportunity to climb a section of the wall. The weather had turned on us a bit by the time we arrived and we were setting up in -7 Celsius and very gusty winds.

The kids did a pretty amazing job considering the conditions! We had to unthaw some Tubas with hot water repeatedly as the valves were frozen shut. We also had to clip our music to our stands in order for it not to blow away! (That didn’t work) The highlights were surely when a couple of sheets of Ning’s music flew off into the hillside in the middle of a song and he had to play by memory. The chaperones (affectionately known as the ‘green jacket brigade’) rushed into action and became human music stands so that more music didn’t leave with the wind!

The choir danced the whole time in order to keep warm and sang bravely for as long as they could before we all got a bit too cold. Great job! After the concert we went back to the buses and had lunch before tackling the wall. Most of the kids went at least half of the way up and Mrs. Mulder, Ms. Reid, and myself went all the way to the top with the other half. Many of the steps are of irregular height and were partially covered with snow. If we though climbing the 5000 + steps were difficult, it was nothing compared to trying to descend. We held the rail the whole time and took our time so we didn’t end up sliding all the way down on our butts. What a beautiful view from the top!

For dinner we were treated to “Beijing Duck” (what used to be known at Peking Duck). The kids did a great job and were quite exited to try it. A number of kids were surprised to see the head of the duck presented on the plate. I guess this is to ensure you received a complete bird for your meal. *** weak stomach warning *** One of the kids ate some of the brain and another one of our girls (she will remain unnamed) ate the eyeballs. I guess these are a delicacy. In an effort to “one up” each other, one of the boys ate a full ladle full of the julienne ginger from our ginger soup………he was definitely feeling it later!



Day 3

I can’t recall if I mentioned how many street vendors we run into. Almost every time our bus pulls up somewhere there is someone offering us fake Rolex watches or other trinkets. There are some very cute/ strange Panda hats that are being peddled. Many of the kids have purchased these or other animal hats in order to fulfill their official tourist role. Stephen, Ning, and Mark T. were some of the first to lead the pack.

We woke up this morning and went down to our courtyard to have a Taiji lesson. Unfortunately our Taiji master who was to meet with us had a minor fender bender in the chaotic morning traffic. He had to wait for the police to arrive on scene so rather than waiting James, the owner of the Tianjiao Education group filled in and was great! All the kids and staff took to learning the first few moves and truly enjoyed this unique way to start the morning.

After our breakfast it was off to a Pearl Shop to learn about the local freshwater pearl and how they are turned into such beautiful jewelry and decorative items. We also learned that the Empress affectionately known as the “Dragon Lady” actually ingested ground pearl powder in an effort to improve her health and complexion.

Next we were off to the Hutong area. This is an older area where the old style of courtyard dwellings has been preserved within the city. The families have small homes and share a courtyard, kitchen and bathroom between four to six units. We all got into groups of two and jumped on a bicycle powered rickshaw for a ride through the alleys of the Hutongs on the way to our lunch.

My group of 10 students got to meet Mrs. Fong and have her prepare lunch for us. It was quite amazing to see how small her place was. Just a two room apartment and she and her husband raised two daughters there. Mrs. Fong made an amazing 8 dish lunch for us and so far this has been the best food we have had on our trip!

We then went to the Capital Museum to see some of the amazing artifacts that come from the country. One of the neatest features was a timeline of western history and their discoveries in comparison with Chinese history and all of their important inventions and cultural advances.

After dinner we were off to see an acrobatic show featuring high school aged students. These students study acrobatics in a manner similar to how we offer “Academies” for students to specialize in a given focus area. We saw some amazing feats of juggling, tumbling, ‘slack wire’ walking, contortionism, and much more. Many jaws were agape with the feats we witnessed and the students definitely came away with an understanding of what can be achieved when you fully apply yourself to a given practice. Back to the hotel and time to sleep.

**** As I mentioned before I am not able to personally access our blog website at all from China and as a result I am emailing Mr.Galpin to have the site updated on our behalf. Since we had the missing backpack issue, I am about 3 days behind in attempting to write the blog. We have also had an issue with spotty internet at our first hotel so uploading pictures has been pretty much impossible due to the file uploads timing out. As soon as our technology catches up we will have those first couple images up. ****