Top: Burning incense before entering the White Clouds Temple. Above (from left): Turtle statue at the White Clouds Temple, China’s most sacred Taoist Temple; Inside the walls of the Forbidden City, Beijing; The Temple of Heaven, visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties to pray for a good harvest; The Terra Cotta Warriors discovered near Xi’an by a local farmer in 1974.
By Cameron Wicker
Every year, a Chinese friend of mine in Seattle takes a group of people on a tour of China. And this year, I joined the trip. We started our Oriental odyssey in Beijing, a very functional city of ordinary square buildings, most of which look a little run down. Yet hidden beneath the urban sprawl are some incredible gems.
On our first day we visited the Forbidden City, home to China’s Imperial Family for 500 years until 1912. The Forbidden City has 999 rooms, since in China, nine is the number of royalty. If you stop to count, you will see nines everywhere. Though many of the buildings look similar, the sheer size of the compound is impressive (2.6 million square feet). Adjacent to the Forbidden City is Tiananmen Square, the largest square in the world.
The next day, we headed to the countryside north of Beijing. Though the city seemed to go on forever, we finally got beyond the buildings and arrived at the famed Great Wall. I had always envisioned the Great Wall as tall, wide and meandering along a flat countryside. But the Wall is 4,000 miles long, and in the section we visited, stretches through mountains. We were faced with what I’d describe as a steep stone staircase. And as I climbed, I couldn’t get over what an extraordinary feat of construction this was; a massive stone staircase going straight up the mountain, and stretching as far as one can see. I can’t imagine how this was accomplished without modern tools or machinery. The up and down climbing was fairly difficult, as it was quite steep, and the steps are not of even height. My legs were spaghetti by the end of the day. Luckily, I was saved by foot massage! At most hotels, there is a spa where, for about $20 USD, you can get an hour-long foot massage where they diligently work you over, using what I’m sure are ancient Chinese techniques.
The highlight of our third day was the White Clouds Temple, the most sacred Taoist temple in China. We were fortunate enough to visit at a time when the monks were performing a ceremony. They were dressed in silk robes and playing ancient instruments, while one monk blessed an object and performed graceful movements. It was awe-inspiring. Later that day we visited the Temple of Heaven, a Taoist temple that was visited by Emperors praying for a good harvest. The wooden structure was built in the early 1400s, entirely without nails.
Next, we enjoyed one of my favorite activities: shopping. We went to a mall that had “stalls,” not typical name-brand retail stores. This is the kind of place where bargaining is acceptable, and here’s how it works: when you see something you like, you start the process by asking “how much?” They then type an amount in Chinese Yuan into a calculator and present you with the number. At this point, you gesture wildly and say “No” as if this is the most preposterous thing you’ve ever heard. They in turn act shocked and reply, “Your price?” At this point, you offer 20% of their original price. Then they gesture wildly and say, “No, too low.” The game continues for several rounds until you finally walk away. Without fail, they run after you yelling “Okay, your price, okay,” acting a bit defeated. Once the money is exchanged, everyone is pleased, thanking one another profusely. Why can’t we adopt this at Nordstrom?
From Beijing, we flew to Xi’an to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. Discovered by a farmer in 1974, the warriors are part of the expansive tomb built for the first Qin Emperor, Qin Shi Huangdi, buried in 210 BC. Over 8,000 warriors and horses guard his burial site. I am starting to realize the Chinese do things big. There are three sites in various stages of excavation. One pit was the size of a football field with warrior after warrior after warrior – all with the same body, but each with a different face. They were all destroyed during a peasant revolution and have been reassembled, to once again stand guard in vast rows. The other two pits aren’t as far along in the excavation, but it gives one a good idea of just how much work had to be done to reconstruct the others. And it makes you wonder: What else lies underground that hasn’t been discovered for 2,000 years?
Perhaps we’ll see in Part 2. Up next: Guilen, Hangzhou and Shanghai.
