Saturday and Sunday - Forbidden City & Tienanmen Square

(Forbidden City)

Saturday: it is what it is

The quote of the day is, “it is what it is” meaning today was the Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square, and Silk Street Market. There is a saying in China, “People Mountain, People Sea”, and in the Forbidden City, all we saw was people, and a few buildings. Though the trip here was short, I feel that we accomplished a lot. The Emperor’s garden was beautiful with the pride and joy being the Mountain of Elegance, a single stone brought in from a distant province to be held solely by the Emperor. As we scaled the stairs we were at awe of the massive-ness of the buildings but as one of us saw, what was waiting for us in the next plane would be even more majestic.

Then we began a walk through Tienanmen Square. It was very eerie to find that the students we were with did not understand the significance of the place we were at. It was shocking to find that even in this modern world with information so available at the fingertips, that so many did not know the truth of history. Myself as a student of history walked in awe through a place that held so much value to me yet nothing for the national who walked beside me.  But our road was not to stop there and we continued to a Tea House and puppet show.

Our guide took our order and though we had been eating the food  eleven days none of us were ready for the feast that was giving to us. China has over 300 types of vetables, so when we ask what we are eating the reply would come, beef and vegetable, pork and vegetable, and chicken and vegetable, and truthfully that was all that was needed. While some of us were done with the food, myself was diving head on into another dish.  BUT that was not the show, on stage was a traditional Chinese Puppet Show. While I do not know the name, the plot of the crane trying to eat the turtle was easy to flow. And in case you’re wondering, the crane wings.

After the meal though a new quote would be ring true, “If you walk away and they are angery, then you go a good deal.” So welcome to Silk Street. J  Of all the places I have now been to in China this place we where I the most grateful to have a Native Chinese speaker with me. Martin who I am more than proud to call my friend, walked through the market we made a lot of people angry. I could tell the stories about the hackeling all day, but the one that stands out the most was when a woman chase us down the hall saying that “Yes 60 rmb would be alright.” What made me smile was she started at 580 rmb.

So “it is what is”  and it is China. Though we have all accepted that we well not see the fruit from the seeds that we have planted, we know that we have watered them and some even sprout.



Sunday Kaleb Knighton’s P.O.V.

To say that today was a crazy day would be a huge understatement.  We woke up and jumped on the bus this morning at 7:30 so we could get to Baoding by 9:30.  Well what should have been a 2 hour drive turned into 3.  We got to North China Electric Power University in Baoding at 10:30.  As some of you might know this is currently where a few beloved graduates of Sterling College are teaching English.  The students that we were meeting with at the university were overjoyed to have us come and discuss culture with them.  For some odd reason everyone in China thinks that I (Kaleb Knighton) am a famous actor or rock star that lives in California.  I cannot tell you how many times some random Chinese people worked up the courage to come and ask me to take a picture with their family.  Well, it was no different at the university!  Except that they actually had full conversations with me before they asked to take my picture.  Some of the Chinese people actually refer to me as “handsome guy” (in Chinese of course).  Needless to say.. my ego is way bigger than it should be.  My family and friends probably could have guessed that!  Well after we finished up our “English Corner” with the students, we ate McDonalds and jumped back into the bus to start our journey back to our host here in Beijing.  I can pretty much sum up what our drive home was like by simply saying,  Mom, I’m glad you weren’t here.  After we nearly got ran off the road by a semi truck we encountered our next challenge.  Flat tire.  We had to stand out on the side of the highway about 30 minutes outside of Beijing for about 45 minutes to wait for another bus to come and pick us up.  After some random stranger stopped to try and help, he handed me two books, which we later found out were pictures and descriptions of Beijing!  Well the new bus came and found us and we safely made our way back to Beijing, which we aimlessly drove around in the dark for a long time because our bus driver had no idea where he was going.


(costume party)