We were picked up early by our guide today. Mrs. St-Cyr and I had to bundle up, since it was very cold out there. We wore our ski jackets, scarves and gloves. When we left the hotel, the sun was out, but barely visible through the fog/smog(?)
Garbrielle from 5th grade had already warned us, that in Beijing, one could barely see any blue sky. She was right! Here is a picture that was taken directly into the sun. Hopefully you are able to tell how hazy the entire day was.
The Summer Palace, constructed from 1741-1764 served Qing Dynasty as an imperial retreat from the hot and muggy confines of the Forbidden City. It occupies an area of 726 acres, three quarters of which is water. It was so cold, that the lake is frozen. The palace is most often associated with the Empress Dowager Cixi, who had the palace rebuilt twice after it was destroyed by foreign armies.
Long corridor:
This covered wooden walkway stretches nearly half a mile. Each pillar, crossbeam, and ceiling is painted with a different scene.
Marble Boat:
This extravagant structure, were Cixi took her tea, is made of wood painted white to make it look like marble. The Temple of Heaven
Completed during the Ming dynasty, the Temple of Heaven is where the emperor would make sacrifices and pray to heaven and his ancestors at the winter solstice. As the Son of Heaven, the emperor could pray for good harvest on behalf of his people. The Triple Gates: The emperor is allowed to enter the East gate, the officials may enter the West gate, while the center gate is reserved for the Gods.
The park is square (symbolizing Earth) in the South and rounded (symbolizing Heaven) in the North.
Today was another great day for Jose. We visited the Beijing Zoo. The zoo has two Giant Pandas. Do you recognize the plant that the panda is eating in the picture? It is called Bamboo and is found throughout China.
Watch the video to see the panda in action.
Since Jose was starting to miss all his friends at San Jose, we found a cuddly panda to keep him company. His new friend will be traveling back to Jacksonville with us and cannot wait to meet all of Jose’s friends at the school. The little Chinese panda does not have a name yet. Can you think of one for him?
The Giant Panda of China is sometimes called a panda bear.
Scientists think pandas are related to the bear and the raccoon. There are Giant Pandas, Red Pandas, and Lesser Pandas.
The Giant Pandas of China live in the bamboo forests of China. Their favorite things to do are eat, sleep and play. They tear the stems and leaves of the bamboo plant off for their food. They have big appetites and eat a lot of bamboo. A panda may spend all day eating.
A panda baby is born in the fall. The panda baby is tiny and pink with almost no hair. A panda mother carries her baby around in her mouth. The mother holds the baby very gently. Panda babies are very playful. After about one year, the panda baby is grown up enough to live on its own.
This is letter number 22 in your China ABC puzzle.
“Y” stands for Ying Yang. Ying Yang
Taoism was very important in the Chinese Empire. The symbol of yin-yang, the two opposites, is an integral part of Taoism. This slide puzzle contains a picture of the yin-yang symbol, broken up into 16 pieces.
This is letter number 21 for your China ABC puzzle.
“O” stands for Oracle Bones.
Shamans made divinations by applying a hot point to bones of animals to create cracks, which were then interpreted and the results etched into the bones.
This letter number 20 for your Chinese ABC puzzle.
“O” stands for Orient.
The Orient is a term traditionally used in Western culture to refer to the Near, Middle, and Far East. People from these areas have been referred to as “Orientals”.
This is letter number 19 for your China ABC puzzle.
“S” stands for Symbols.
Symbols are very important in Chinese culture. Many symbols are animals, colors or numbers.
Yellow, the royal color used by the emperors, represents power and authority.
The color red symbolizes good fortune and joy to the Chinese people.
The colors green and blue, associated with the Wood Element, both symbolize growth and are used to represent longevity and harmony.
Dragons are symbols of the emperor. In China, the dragon is a symbol of celestial (Heavenly) and terrestrial (Earthly) power, wisdom, and strength. According to Chinese mythology, the dragon controls also the rainfall.
This is letter number 18 for your China ABC puzzle:
“E” stands for Emperor.
An emperor is a (male) monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress is the feminine form. As a title, “empress” may indicate the wife of an emperor or a woman who is a ruling monarch. Emperors are generally recognized to be above kings in honor and rank.
Yesterday we went on a Rickshaw Tour around Hutongs in old Beijing.
The Hutongs are alleyways, where some of the Beijing residents live. Former officials and well to do families used to live in the hutongs, but most of them are now owned by the state and rented to the families. Many families have to share public bathrooms, such as the one in the picture below. No heat, no air-conditioning…and lots of squatting toilets.
What a surprise, when we were invited to a family’s home. We were served the most delicious food. The eggplant and green bean dishes were our favorite!
The owner was gracious to give us a tour of her home. It is amazing the tasty food that can be cooked in such a small kitchen.
It is always important to know the numbers in the local language when visiting another country. Big misunderstandings can occur when making purchases or while asking what gate in the airport your plane is leaving from and you are not sure of what numbers were said.
Race Coordinators, please prepare students by teaching them numbers from 1-12 in Chinese. Let them practice on paper and on the board. Listen to this website for proper pronunciation of each number or download an audio file of the numbers 1-10 pronounced. Download Chinese Number Sheet.
Students are divided into 5 groups. Each groups receives a pair of dice. Each group member is to roll the dice, say each individual number he/she rolled and the sum of each number out loud..
Points will be awarded according to the sum that each group was able to roll total after a predetermined amount of time. Teacher will walk around to make sure that students are pronouncing numbers in Chinese. If team members use incorrect or non Chinese pronunciation 5 points for each infraction will be subtracted from class total.
According to Wikipedia:
Lucky numbers are based on the way their names sound similar to other Chinese words.
Two
The number 2 is a good number in Chinese culture. There is a Chinese saying “good things come in pairs”.
It is common to use double symbols in product brandnames, e.g. double happiness, double coin, double elephants etc.
Six
The number 6, pronounced “Liu”, sounds like the word for “to flow” which can mean “everything goes smoothly”.
The number 666 is considered one of the luckiest numbers. It can be seen prominently in many shop windows across the country, and people there often pay extra to get a mobile phone number including this string of digits. License plate number AW6666 was bought for 272,000 yuan (US$34,000) in an auction by an anonymous bidder on behalf of a motorcycle dealership in Zengcheng,
Eight
The number 8 is lucky because its Cantonese pronunciation is baat, which sounds like the Cantonese word for good luck, Telephone number 8888-8888 was sold for USD$270,723 in Chengdu, China.
The Summer Olympics in Beijing are scheduled to open on 8/8/08 at 8 p.m.
Nine
The number 9, pronounced Jiu, sounds like the word for “longlasting”
The Forbidden City and Tian’an Men Square in Beijing are one of the most anticipated places for us on our trip. It has so much ancient as well as recent history associated with it, that one feels a great deal of anticipation.
We started our tour on Sunday morning on the world largest public square (the size of 90 American football fields): Tian’an Men Square.
Tian’an Men Square has been in the news several times, the most famous was the gathering of the student protesters and the governments violent suppression of it in 1989.
We had blue skies, cool temperatures and thousands of other tourists joining us while eagerly looking towards the main entrance of “The Forbidden City”. It was funny to watch a huge tourist group, all with red baseball caps on following a tour guide like little ants , who was waving a tall flag post ahead. We were glad that it was just the two of us following our guide “Tom’. While crossing the immense square ones eyes automatically are drawn to the entrance of “The Forbidden City” with the giant painting of “Chairman Mao”.
The “city” was the imperial palace for the Ming and Qing Dynasties and was forbidden for common people to enter. It took 14 years to build, starting in 1406 and completed in 1426. Between 1420 and 1923, the palace was home to 24 emperors. It was opened to the public in 1949.
It is said that the Forbidden City has 9,999 rooms, since 9 is the most important and biggest single number.
We saw many special statues in the city. One of the most impressive ones are the lions that are guarding the entrances.
The lion on the right is always a male lion and the one on the left is female. The male lion has a ball under its paw, while the female lion has a cub under the paw to protect the palace and house.
Other animals that we saw and who have a special meaning were :
The Summer Palace, constructed from 1741-1764 served Qing Dynasty as an imperial retreat from the hot and muggy confines of the Forbidden City. It occupies an area of 726 acres, three quarters of which is water. It was so cold, that the lake is frozen.
The palace is most often associated with the Empress Dowager Cixi, who had the palace rebuilt twice after it was destroyed by foreign armies.
This covered wooden walkway stretches nearly half a mile. Each pillar, crossbeam, and ceiling is painted with a different scene.
The Triple Gates: The emperor is allowed to enter the East gate, the officials may enter the West gate, while the center gate is reserved for the Gods.
The Forbidden City and Tian’an Men Square in Beijing are one of the most anticipated places for us on our trip. It has so much ancient as well as recent history associated with it, that one feels a great deal of anticipation.
San Jose Episcopal Day School