Back to the tour...

After our detour into inappropriate product labeling, let's get back to our one day tour of Beijing!

After the surreal viewing of Chairman Mao's body and several hours at the Capital Museum, we got back on the subway and headed up to the Confucius Temple.  Having worked with both Chinese and Korean populations, we were curious about this man and his powerful impact on these cultures.
As soon as we got off the subway, people were selling incense.  We realized that the subway exit was directly next to the Lama Temple (a major Buddhist temple) and that there was spirit money, incense and idols being sold all over the place.

Incense and spirit money to burn.

Several streets of stores selling stuff to offer at the temple.  The mix of commerce and religious belief/spirituality is a bad thing, in my opinion.

Monk taking a break.  These are usually "temporary" monks.  We see them in our city, also.

Knitters!  Most older Chinese women knit.  The most common thing that they knit are long johns.  Needles here tend to be very long and thin and are usually double pointed.

Paul and Confucius.  This is called the Confucius Temple but there's no real religious aspect to it.  

These had the names of the Confucian scholars on them.

Beautiful building-it was a very peaceful setting.

Great displays with good information on Confucius and his teachings on government and family.  It was in Chinese and English- I learned a lot!

Important people from that time.  

One more great diorama!

System of numbers.

Sacrificial altar.  Again, Confucius didn't really teach about God or gods, so I am not sure what they were sacrificing to.

Sadly at this point my camera battery died, so we didn't get pictures of the Scholars Academy.  It really was a beautiful and peaceful place and I am glad we went.  We did not go to the Lama Temple because of time and I was all that sorry to miss it.  We walked through some old hutongs (traditional neighborhoods) that are being   "gentrified."  There were still the public bathrooms as most hutong homes have no plumbing, but then the was a youth hostel, a Spanish tapas bar,  a coffee house where you could get  a "wineless connection" and other fairly trendy stuff.  I wasn't sure how to feel about that.

We took the subway back to Wang Fujin Street and went to the Foreign Language bookstore where we stocked up on some English books.  I don't mean instructional textbooks! I mean novels!  What a pleasure to have some books to read.

The next day we went to an international church in Beijing.  After the worship time (singing in English!!! with guitars!!!), the announcer said "I'd like to welcome Dr.  Briscoe back" and Stuart Briscoe stood up and preached!  I just about passed out.  We love Stuart and Jill Briscoe and all that they teach and stand for!  What a delight and special gift to have them there that Sunday.

We took a hard seat train back that night which gave us great chances to talk to our seat mates. It was a good, good weekend in Beijing!

We interrupt this scenic tour of Beijing....

for this.
I was shopping in the big semi-foreign grocery store today and I saw this.  This store has a no camera's sign but China has no rule of law.  I decided that in this amazing circumstance, the rule did not apply to me and  I surreptitiously took these pictures.

Yes, it's Jew's Ear Juice in the Juice section.

Close up View.

"Quality Jew's Ear selected from Changbai Mountain."

The character's say Hei1 Mu4 Er3 Lu4 which means's "wood ear juice."  According to Wikepedia, "Jew's Ears" is an derogatory name from the Middle Ages for wood fungus.  Apparently, it has stuck in China!

Here is a link to a site that reviews drinks like this.  http://newatlasbev.com/450/juice/jews-ear-juice/

Language-it never fails to fascinate!

Beijing- the morning.

We went to Beijing this weekend, to see some friends and do some sight seeing.  Beijing was the first place we went in China when we came three years ago.  I was tired and overwhelmed on that trip and afraid of getting lost in a place where I didn't speak or read the language at all.   It was hot and humid and we had a tired 13 year old on her first overseas trip.
So I was curious to see what Beijing felt like now that I can speak, read and write some Chinese.  Elisabeth is still on her service trip in Yunnan so it was just Paul and I.
We left on the 8:00 fast train from Shenyang to Beijing.  We got on a city bus around 6:30 AM to get to the train station.  It was packed with people going to school and work.  That kind of work ethic is why China's economy is booming!

We arrived in Beijing  and got some lunch.  Then we went to our friend's house.  They have lived and worked in Beijing for several years and have so many good relationships with the people that they work with.  They have good insight and observations about China and Chinese people.  They are very stellar people.
For dinner we walked over to a mall near their apartment and saw this.

It was a restaurant  named "Kaka" with all the servers in devil horns.  However, we resisted the devils and they fled from us.  We ate at another place.

In the morning, we took the subway down to Tienanmen Square.  As you can see from the picture, it was a low air quality day.  We have all ready been to the Forbidden City but the last time we were here, Chairman Mao's Mausoleum was closed.  We wanted to see him, so we checked our bags and camera and went through the security line.  There were flowers for sale to put in front of  a statue of him and then you are very quickly herded through the line past his glass encased body.  You can not stop or take a picture.  There were two young guards in the glass room with the body and I hope they get paid a lot of money to stand there!  It took us longer to check our bags and go through security than to actually see the body.  It was an odd experience.

After that we took the subway to the Beijing City Museum.  It was fantastic!  I am a sucker for anything that looks like a diorama or any kind of arts and crafts.  This museum had many!

.

I think that whoever made these passed the good housewife test.

Wedding procession

Wedding clothes.

Wedding clothes.

The bride sat in this.

Another procession

Children's Shoes

Lanterns

Diorama of flying a kite.

Parade

Merchants.

On a different floor, there were ancient statues.

Charming painted cups

An incredible painted table top.

This museum was one of the better we have been in and we enjoyed every moment of it.  We also went to the Confucius Temple but I'll post about that tomorrow.

There are certain things....

that show that you are adapting to your new culture.  You learn to accept a new normal and find that things you once thought were unusual are actually pretty usual.

You accept that you will almost be hit by a bus, car, taxi or motorcycle almost every day.

You accept that babies don't wear diapers and that relieving oneself in public is not unusual.

You learn why you never wear your shoes in the house.

You learn that this is what your morning commute looks like.

You no longer look at families on motor scooters and think "That looks dangerous."

Adaption means....

that you accept that milk comes in boxes and can be stored in your cupboards.

You accept that yogurt comes in bags and that you drink it.

You accept that this kind of parking will not be ticketed and that it is, in fact, fairly par for the course.

You know that these girls holding hand are just good friends.  Same with boys.

You know that it is not going to rain, even though they are carrying umbrellas.

You understand that traditional religion is alive and well in China.

You know that you have never worked as hard as this man.

You are thrilled because you can read this!

You come to expect the unexpected while on bike rides.

You know that there are some people here with unbelievable difficult lives.  But you also learn that some are professional beggars, stealing children to do their dirty work.  You learn to say no to those people.

You learn that any service can be gotten anywhere.

You know that this sign is not as schizophrenic as it appears.

You learn to expect unexpected beauty.

Adaption means thinking critically about culture-both your own and your new culture.  It means seeing the beauty and flaws in both- signs of the fall and signs of redemption.  It is exhausting work but so very much worth it.