(a tune for the pleasure of you and your lil' ol' ears)
I guess we never really thought of it before but a very
surprising thing for us was some of the things we were allowed to do and banded
from doing. For example, at the hotel we were banned from going on Facebook! How
will people know what I had for lunch?? Another was Tiananmen square, we had a
private guide she informed us that we probably had questions about what had
happened there in 1989 but that there would be people there listening to her
version of the tour and that she could get into trouble for not giving the
official version!
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| Tiananmen Square, where in 1989 the military attacked a student protest. Each guide is observed to make sure they give "the right verion" of the events. Beijing, China, July 2010 |
Now don’t get me wrong we got to
see lots and we had a great time it was just surprising. Like did you know that
the last emperor of China was only a small child when he got the job, so
someone (mostly his aunt) would sit behind him covered in a veil and give answers
to questions that were asked.
Of course being in China you have
to go to the Great Wall, there too it was kind of funny to see locals scooting
over to get their pictures taken with us, they tried to do it without us
noticing but once they saw we were OK with it, they were like paparazzi!
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| He wanted his picture taken with my husband. The Great Wall, China, July 2010 |
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| Can you spot Waldo??? Lots of people visit The Wall everyday! The Great Wall, China, July 2010 |
After a few days in Beijing we
travelled to Xian, the main reason for going there is the Terracotta Warriors.
This was the burial site of the first emperor of China each warrior is
different, they have the different uniforms and height according to what rank they held, the knots
on top of their heads represent what their job was, so an archer would have a
different hairdo than a foot soldier.
They date back to 210BC. They
were discovered in 1974 by a farmer digging for a well. When I was planning
this trip I questioned going there, would it really be worth it? Once you
walk-in you get an idea of how monumental the whole thing is.
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| One of the four pits with the warriors. The emperor wanted his army to defend him in the after-life. Xian, China, July 2010. |
Now I was curious as to why did
nobody know about all this? Well there was a revolution by the farmers against
the emperor, the warriors were covered with a huge wooden roof, the farmers set
fire to it, it collapsed, covering the army for more than 1500 years... I guess
someone forgot to blog about that bit of info!
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| One of the farmers who discovered The Terracotta Warriors. The government took his land away, but gave him a job in the gift shop! He now makes his money by signing books for tourists. Xian, China, July 2010. |
After Xian it was on to Tibet, which was once
its own independent country and there is a lot of controversy over China taking
over Tibet. Before we even left the airport parking lot our guide told us not
to take any picture of ANYTHING military EVER! Not only will you get into
trouble they will take your camera away from you.
Now Tibetans are the most docile,
peaceful people I have ever met. They practice Buddhism and are very open to
sharing their beliefs with tourist. On the second day there, we were asked if
we wanted to see the highest ranking monk in all of Tibet, he was offering
blessings at a temple, so sure why not! Right? Well the guide took me by the
hand and dragged me pass about 300 people waiting in line to see him, up a
narrow staircase, pass more people who looked like they were waiting for days,
passed people who seemed to be sick, not one person said ‘Hey no cutting the
line’ I thought for sure they were going to kill me for butting in front of
them but nope they just smiled and let us through. Once in front of him I was
offered a blessing if I wanted but I just couldn’t do that to the people who
had been waiting so long to see him.
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| People getting blessed from the high monk in Tibet. Lhasa, Tibet (China), July 2010 |
Another
amazing thing we got to see in Tibet was a monastery, everyday they take all
the ‘monks in training’ and quiz them in the courtyard, you can go watch of
course we couldn’t understand what was being said but it was fun to watch. The
teacher would yell a question at his student, if the student got the right
answer the teacher would clap his hands together, if the student was wrong he
would hit the back of his hand in the palm of his other hand. I can’t imagine
quizzing my students like that but it could be fun!
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| This little monk was so cute! He kept getting distracted by the tourists taking pictures and getting the wrong answers. Lhasa, Tibet (China), July 2010 |
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| I'm afraid of kids, but even I have a soft side. These Tibetan girls were so happy to get little Canadian teddy bears. Lhasa, Tibet (China), July 2010 |
If going to Tibet you have to
visit the Potala Palace, it was the former home of the Dalai Lama. Tibet sits
in the Himalaya mountains because of the altitude a simple task such as climbing
steps can be exhausting! To get to the palace requires visitors to climb about
13 stories, a couple of times I thought I was going to die! Making it to the
top is totally worth it though. Oh yeah we were being passed by 100 year old
grandmothers chain smoking and laughing at us as we sat there gasping for air,
I was too weak at this point to take pictures of them but it happened, true
story.
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| Potala Palace from our hotel's roof top bar. Just below it looks like laundry drying on a clothes line, but they're actually paper flags. Lhasa, Tibet (China), July 2010 |
On our way back to the airport the guide asked if we would like to see some Tibetan dogs, well of course I love puppies! The dogs are sold all over the world this one would cost about 158,000 dollars! So I guess it’s not a mutt and no it does not currently reside with the Gaudets.
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| Maybe when we win the lottery... Lhasa, Tibet (China), 2010 |
So that in a nutshell is pretty
much our trip! I really enjoy the whole feeling of being out of my element, as I
love using a calculator to figure out if I need a new mortgage in order to get
a beer, I love doing charades over lunch, and yes sometimes it’s better just not
to ask.
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