China 4/18/2015 - 5/6/2015

Monday 4/20/15 - Lama Temple, Beihai Park, Beijing Shi Cha Hai Sports School, Silk Factory, Beijing Opera

We woke up at 6:55 a.m. after a very comfortable and restful sleep. We took showers and heard music and morning announcements through the open bathroom window. At 8 o'clock we went down for breakfast. We had peach juice, orange juice, coffee, pork dumplings, beef with peppercorn on the edges, watermelon, strawberries, omelets, bacon, sausage, banana bread, "cake with eggs, flour, and milk" (the yellow sponge cake I loved so much last time).

We stopped at the room to get our day packs and met Karen and Mr. Chou at 9 o'clock. The weather was gorgeous: blue skies and sunny. Karen immediately said that we had brought the good weather with us again, as she remembered how lucky we had been in the weather department last time. We enjoyed chatting with Karen on the ride, and we arrived at Yonghegong Lama Temple at 9:30. It was built in 1694 as the residence of Prince Yong of the Qing Dynasty. In 1744, it was converted into a Tibetan Buddhist temple.

The Lama Temple opens to the public at 9 o'clock each day. Before that, the monks are studying and praying, as it is an active temple. We walked through a very pretty tree-lined garden area to get to the temples. It reminded us of the grounds of the Temple of Heaven. There were a lot of birds here as well. It was very peaceful despite being in the midst of the city.

We arrived at a plaza where Buddhists were praying and lighting incense in front of the temple. Different ethbicities pray noticeably differently: the Han Chinese kneel, while those of Tibetan heritage prostrate themselves on their bellies. They light 3 sticks of incense and bow 3 times from a kneeling or standing position. There were monks in their crimson and gold robes. One was manipulating prayer beads in one hand and a smartphone in the other. It was the perfect juxtaposition of old and new.

Karen explained that this complex was originally built for the prince, and had halls of mathematics, pharmacy, prayer, etc. A dominant color is green because that was the princely color. But it was then turned into a Buddhist temple complex. We went into the first temple. No photos were allowed inside the temple buildings themselves, much like in Bhutan. In fact, the temples had elaborate designs painted on the ceilings and beams, a characteristic that they share with their Bhutanese counterparts.

The buildings are restored and fixed up on a regular basis, so everything was very fresh and new-looking despite being hundreds of years old. As we passed through one temple, we found ourselves in another plaza in front of the next temple, and so on. There were similar to the temples we had seen in Bhutan.

One temple featured a statue of a laughing Buddha and his guards (one for each of the 4 cardinal directions). Each guard had a weapon: sword, snake, scepter, and musical instrument. The instrument was a weapon because when he played it, it gave devils a headache. We thought that was quite clever. The statue of the guard with the scepter was stomping a devil underfoot.

Another temple contained three Buddha statues: Chinese, Eastern, and Western, symbolizing the ubiquity of Buddhism. Another contained statues of past, present, and future Buddhas, symbolizing the timelessness of Buddhism.

One temple had long benches with Oriental rugs on them and long tables with many reading lamps for studying. The texts were kept in silk pouches (once againm similat to Bhutanese temples). This temple also contained a statue depicting on a real lama. It was carved from wood and had a gilded face. There were 300-year-old paintings on silk featuring Buddhist designs similar to those which we had bought in Bhutan and which now hang in our bedroom.

Then we went into the final and most amazing pavilion. The most awe-inspiring sight here was an 18-meter-tall statue of Maitreya carved from a single piece of white sandalwood. In total it is 26 meters tall, as there are an additional 8 meters buried underground for stability. I entered the temple and saw the feet of a statue in front of me. The low ceiling at the entrance obscured my view of the full statue. I emerged from under the low ceiling and found myself looking up in awe at a larger than life statue.

I called Craig over to see and his reaction didn't disappoint. His jaw fell open. Karen got a big kick out of our reactions. It was absolutely massive and impressive. It is even in the Guinness Book of World Records! Karen explained that the tree was cut down in Tibet and it took 3 years to transport it all the way to Beijing in the mid 18th century. Then it took another 3 years to carve it in 1750. It was awe-inspiring. Photos were not allowed, and although many other people took them anyway, it is important for us to respect the rules. Perhaps not having a photographic image of something so humbling is actually fitting, as Buddhists believe in non-attachment and the impermanence of the material world.

It was a beautiful day and so nice to be outside, enjoying this complex which we had missed during our last trip due to the amount of time we had spent at the Great Wall. No regrets about that, but we were happy to be able to see this now.

After a thoroughly enjoyable visit to the Lama Temple, we went to Beihai Park. It is the earliest and best preserved imperial garden in the world, having been established in 1166 A.D. It is 690,000 square meters, including 390,000 square meters which comprise Taiye Lake. Flowers were blooming everywhere, and many families were enjoying strolling along the walkways or taking pedal boat rides on the lake. Boats ranged from traditional wooden boats rowed with oars to more modern whimsical boats shaped like yellow rubber duckies and geese with life preservers around their necks.

We saw a small turtle in the water, which we took as a good omen of longevity. Gardens contained rocks from the south similar to those of the concubines in the Forbidden City. We crossed a footbridge to Jade Flower Island. You can climb up to the White Pagoda, a 40-meter tall stupa built in honor of the 5th Dalai Lama's visit in 1651. Karen was afraid that the walk up might be too much for Craig with his MS. We appreciated her concern, but Craig was feeling up for it, so we walked slowly up the steps.

There were many pretty flowers in bloom, most notably winter plums whose pretty fuschia flowers emerge right out of the tree bark. There were lots of families with kids and everyone was taking photos in front of the flowers in the sun, especially Karen.

The sun was very warm, pleasantly so after our long harsh winter, and we worked up a sweat walking up to the stupa. As we exited the park, we saw a local couple who were using an oversized paintbrush to paint calligraphy on the walkway with water.Once again the concept of impermanence came to mind. They offered to let me try. I don't know any characters other than "exit" and "passenger." Since we were on our way out, I drew an amateurish version of the "exit" character.

After enjoying more of the beautiful day outdoors, we stopped at a small restaurant called Dumplings. A table full of older local men couldn't stop looking at us, and were very pleased when greeted them with nihao. We had two types of dumplings: pork and peppers, and egg, veggie, leek and shrimp. We also had soup made from tofu, cabbage, and glass noodles, as well as noodles with soy sauce and hot peppers. I had a JDB sweet tea and Craig had a Sprite. Karen told us that within a couple of days, she would be flying to the USA for a whirlwind cross country tour, to teach her how to guide Chinese tourists in America. How exciting for her!

After a nice dumpling lunch, we visited the Beijing Shi Cha Hai Sports School at around 2 p.m. We had seen the exterior of the school on our last visit, when we had taken a tour of nearby Beiguanfang Hutong. In fact, we saw the exact rickshaw we had ridden in, good old #42, parked idly on the side of the road as we apprached the campus.

Karen said that tourists generally don't visit the school, and it was her first time to come here as well. It was a very nice campus with many buildings and gardens. Though it is right near the tourist center of town, its landscaping and layout makes it seem more rural. We entered the campus and went into an administrative building, waiting in the office while Karen got the necessary permissions. She returned with a young man who guided us around the campus.

The school takes mostly local Beijing students, as well as some students from other parts of China, and a small number of foreign students. Students must qualify to be accepted. They range in age from 5 years to high school. They study academics in the mornings and athletics in the afternoons. Students pay tuition until they get to a level where they win competitions, and at that point the government will give them scholarships and stipends.

No photos were allowed inside. Since this is where many of China's elite athletes train, we suppose that this is a matter of national security. The gymnasiums were very modern, and all had the Chinese flag prominently on display. We first went into the badminton gym. Both boys and girls were playing, and most of the players were on the older side. We noticed two blonde caucasian girls practicing as well. All of the students had so much power behind their serves and volleys. It was really impressive to watch them practice.

Next we went to watch ping pong. The age range in this gym went from the very youngest (around 5) to teenagers. After a brief warm up of running, jumping, and arm exercises, they started to play...wow!! Even the little kids were amazing. They were so in the zone. Their focus was so intense. They stood close to the table and volleyed back and forth, and then after a while they stepped further away from the table and continued. They had multiple balls in reserve in their hands so that if one went awry, they just served another one without missing a beat. It was mesmerizing.

Next we went into the boxing gym. There were 2 rings. Nobody was fighting. There were only older boys in this gym. Most of them were jumping rope (sometimes getting two jumps in for each swing of the rope). They punched large and small punching bags.

Next was Tae Kwon Do, which we watched through windows overlooking the gym from a hallway. They were warming up, and then donned shin guards and arm guards and sparred - sometimes boys against girls. Most of these students were older as well. One boy kept kicking a girl in the face. It looked harsh, and Karen couldn't help giggling nervously.

We went to a larger gym where three separate sports were training simultaneously. A group of young children practiced Chinese Kung Fu, doing roundhouse kicks, etc. Despite the discipline required at the school, these were still little kids, and occasionally needed to be directed to stay on task by their coaches.

In the center of the gym, gymnasts (all girls except for one boy, mostly teenagers but also a couple of younger girls) practiced. They got into a bcakbend (what we know in yoga as wheel pose) and then traveled the whole width of the gym without breaking the pose. Wow! As beginner yoga students, this blew our minds. Then they stepped across the gym, high kicking their legs up to their ears. They went back and forth doing this again and again.

In the far end of the gym, a couple of teen girls were doing tai chi with sabers. They were very graceful and the movements were elegant.

As we walked through the campus, we saw students playing at outdoor tennis courts, while others circled them running track. It is obvious that the students are very disciplined. It was an honor to see these amazing student athletes train, and we are positive that these are future Chinese Olympians!

At around 4 p.m. we headed to the ancient astronomical observatory, which dates back to 1442. Mr. Chou couldn't find the nearest parking lot. Karen busted his chops about needing a GPS. Craig said "The car used to have one in the console where that painting is now." We remembered that he and Alice had used it when looking at the BrickYard Hotel last time. Mr. Chou was very impressed that Craig had such a good memory, and said that it is currently being repaired. He and Karen used the GPS on their phones instead.

Mr. Chou pulled over and let us out a short walk from the observatory while he looked for parking. We walked toward a crenolated brick wall and could see metal astronomical equipment at the top of the wall. It looked very medieval. Karen was in a rush to get to the ticket office before it closes (all of the major sites sell their last tickets at 4:30, apparently). I saw a sign on the gate that said closed on Mondays. Was that for the observatory? Was today Monday? Sure enough, yes on both counts.

All of our first thoughts were of Mr. Chou, who had struggled to find the place, and then had to search for a plaece to park. Now, not five minutes later, Karen called him telling him the news. He explained where he was parked, and when we arrived back at the car, he greeted us with folded arms and feigned annoyance. He posed for a photo.

He and Karen asked what we wanted to do with our newfound free time. The itinerary had originally called for a trip to the market where you can buy all kinds of inexpensive knockoffs of designer goods. This didn't interest us, so they asked if we had seen silk production yet. We hadn't, so we decided to do that instead.

We went to Yuan Hou Silk, a factory and retail shop where we saw how silk is processed from cocoon to thread and/or silk batting. Silk is very important in the history of China, and there was a large illustrated map of the Silk Road displayed prominently in the building. We were shown glass specimen jars containing silk worms in various stages of development floating in blue liquid.

Cocoons containing a single larva are processed by machine. The cocoons are soaked in hot water, then stirred around in cold water, and then are unwound and spooled into a single thread. A single cocoon can yield a mile (!!) of silk thread.

Cocoons containing twin larvae are known as double cocoons. These are used in the production of silk batting, which is an entirely manual process. People pull open the cocoons and remov the silk worm larvae. Then they stretch the cocoon over a U-shaped form about a foot wide. The stretching process is repeated and the cocoon is stretched wider and wider. Three women demonstrated the process of stretching the silk over a mattress, so that it is large enough to stuff a comforter.

The salesman who showed us around was a hard sell. The comforters were gorgeous reasonably priced ($150 or so for a king size). They vacuum pack them for easy carrying home. Surely we couldn't refuse such a good deal? No thank you, we explained. They were too nice...our cats would ruin them. Plus we tend to get hot when we sleep and prefer to have more layers of lightweight covers than a single heavy duvet.

The salesman was hovering. I know how things like this work: we are pretty much expected to buy something after the demonstration. So I asked to see the silk scarves and other less expensive items. They had some gorgeous very high quality scarves. But again...too nice and too pricey for what we needed. So I bought 3 square scarves: one depicting Beijing opera masks for us, and two depicting longevity for our mothers. They were $15 apiece. I had hoped that a $45 sale would abate the salesman, but he still wanted us to buy a comforter. No, thanks. Really.

Next, we went to a restaurant right near the opera. It had opera themed decor and plates. We sat at a table for four with Karen and the driver. The driver poured us glasses of a clear soda. We pegged it as lychee right away from the taste. Craig had a Tsing Tao beer and I had tea. We had local Beijing noodles with cucumbers and soy sauce, the ubiquitous Beijing eggplant, pepper, and potato mixture in a sweet sauce (yum!), beef with glass noodles in broth, chicken with glass noodles, cabbage, rice, and orange slices for dessert. The proprietors were smoking while sitting right under the no smoking sign. This happens everywhere in China. The driver was watching full volume TV on his phone as we ate..

After an enjoyable dinner, we left the restaurant at 6:30 to see the Beijing Opera at the Liyuan Theatre in the Beijing Qianmen Hotel. Karen picked up the tickets and waited with us until the doors opened for the 7 p.m. show. We looked at some exhibits in the hotel lobby from the history of the art form, which dates back to 1790.

We entered the theater and were led to a front center table of the VIP section. There were Chinese tourists at our table and they were very nice. We had complimentary tea poured by a guy with a large watering can style teapot with a flourish. There were also complimentary snacks (sesame cookies, etc.) Karen made sure we were settled and then went home via the subway, saying that the driver would meet us at the car after the show. We knew where he was parked (right out front), so this would be easy.

We talked with a couple from Vancouver and a guy from England. The couple had been on a Yangtze River Cruise and had said the ship locks had been closed for maintenace, and they had to be bused to the other side of the locks. We hoped that wasn't the case for us, as we would be taking a similar cruise in a few days.

I bought a program for 50 yuan, as photography is not allowed during the show. We were, however, allowed to photograph a makeup/costume demonstration. An actor sat on the stage wordlessly doing his makeup at a mirror box. First he applied bright white foundation. Then he painted large black bags under his eyes, and a black moustache shape under his nose. He painted symbols on his forehead, and then stood up. He was wearing flowing yellow silk trousers with red embroidery, and platform boots. Another man came onto the stage and helped the actor to don an elaborate gold brocade costume. Once he was all dressed, he bowed to the audience and then walked offstage.

Karen had explained that there are a number of different skits that the opera company performs, usually three per night. You never know what you will get. A movie started which explained the history of the opera. It was in low-def and we were too close. The English subtitles went by way too fast and were so far at the bottom of the screen that they were half cut off. But we got the general idea.

Then the performance started. The band was visible barely offstage to our right. On either side of the stage was a screen which contained subtitles in both Chinese and English. Karen had explained that the singing style is old fashioned and difficult even for Chinese speakers to understand. She said that many of the younger generation find the opera to be too slow and boring.

The first story was called "Autumn River." It had just two characters: a nun named Chen Miaochang and a boatman. It was a very simple story without much complex choreography. The nun hired the elderly boatman to follow her scholar boyfriend Pan Bizheng's boat down the river. There were flutes and stringed instruments played with a bow. The music was also used as sound effects, as they walked or pantomimed being on an unsteady boat. The nun sang in a very shrill voice. The boatman teased her and tried to make her nervous with various delays. He flirted with her and when they finally caught the scholar's boat, the scene abruptly ended.

The second story was called "Battling the Armored Vehicles." Military leaders in elaborate robes with flags on the back and platform shoes did high kicks like the gymnast girls. General Gao Biao's army fought General Wu Shu's army. There was very little dialog. Some of the music was so percussive and chaotic that, combined with some jet lag, it started to give me a little headache. I thought of the statue of Buddha's guard at the Lama Temple this morning who used a musical instrument as a weapon to give devils headaches. I could relate to those devils right about now!

There were elaborately choreographed fight scenes with acrobatics on the battlefield. The costumes looked really cool as they spun and twisted and fought with swords and staffs. General Gao pantomimed being on a horse, and jumped and landed (hard) in the splits around 5 times in a row. The musicians made horse noises with clarinets. The skit ended with the dramatic death of General Gao.

The whole performance was very impressive, and we enjoyed ourselves. Beijing Opera is so iconic that it was very cool to be able to experience it firsthand.

The show ended at 8:38. We stopped to use the restroom and by the time we were out, Mr. Chou had already come in looking for us. We said "shi sho jien" (bathroom) by way of explanation, and he laughed. We walked together back to the car and he drove us back to the Red Wall Garden.

We were so tired by now. We were jet-lagged, and had had a long busy day in the sun. And we had to get up early tomorrow morning for a flight to Xi'an. All I wanted to do was sleep! I wrote a few notes in the notebook and sent a couple of e-mails. We were very happy to be in bed by 10 o'clock.

Soon a young boy in the room next door started shouting and quacking (really?!) I hoped that he would settle down soon and go to bed. But he just. kept. going. I seethed until 11 o'clock, fantasizing about knocking on their door, calling the front desk, etc. But then I finally gave in, got up, and found our earplugs. Once I put them in, I fell right to sleep. I wish I wasn't so stubborn sometimes...