Michael

As we drove to the Beijing airport for our long flight back to the U.S., Grace, our tour guide, told us a lesson that she had been taught by her mother. To set the reason for the story, I must briefly describe a short incident that happened on Monday, May 28th. The Beijing Capitol City Museum was closed on that day. So, Grace, being the adaptable tour guide, made some suggestions on how to change our itinerary and still meet all of the items on our contracted travel to-do list. Well, a number of our group started to react quite vocally, splitting us into numerous “factions.” It was quite interesting to watch this total breakdown. Finally, after much discussion in Chinese and English, an agreement was crafted. The total time to a compromise was about an hour.

Grace recovered quickly, which is a testament to her ability to adapt and move pass a difficult situation. Today, on the bus, Grace recounted her mother’s lesson.

If you have a bad experience, leave it behind you. Focus your attention on your happy experiences.

This simple, but deeply wise philosophy holds critical keys to being happier. I loved the fact that as I personally search for keys to happiness, I find them everywhere, regardless of what country I’m in. Fundamentally, we are all made of the same stuff and want to live happy, productive lives.

The Chinese are an amazing people with thousands of years of history, a rich mythology with colorful legends and a great desire to make connections with the rest of the world. I found them to be warm, open, insatiably curious, possessing a strong desire to interact with foreigners, a fantastic sense of humor and a great willingness to do their best. Many wanted to practice their English with us no matter how much they knew. They just wanted to interact.

I’m so glad that I went on this trip. It was special from the beginning and always will be.

Have a great day.

Michael

After a quick trip to the Beijing Zoo this morning, we were soon face to face with the Giant Panda. The Chinese call the Panda, Xiong Mao (approximate pronunciation is soong mow) or “bear cat.” They believe the panda is like a bear but not a bear and like a cat but not a cat. The Giant Pandas are considered a national treasure to the Chinese. There are not that many left in the wild (1200 – 1500).

As we had arrived early in the morning, the pandas were having a hearty breakfast of bamboo. Three pandas were actively eating outside where they could easily be seen. All were eating sitting on their haunches with a slouched posture, but each was eating the bamboo in their own individual way. One was eating both stalk and leaves whole heartedly. The second was eating mainly the bamboo stalk, while the third was stripping the leaves and quickly devouring them. I was quite mesmerized as was most of our group.

A short bus ride took us to the Beijing Capital City Museum. The first thing you notice is the absolutely stunning architecture of the building. The design is well balanced with a round section (symbol of heaven) and a square section (symbol of earth). The interior space was grand on a massive scale.

The museum has been open for about one year and houses a large collection of Chinese folk history, ancient calligraphy, ancient jade art, ancient bronze art, paintings and etc. We only had 1 1/2 hours to peruse the many exhibit floors.

In the ancient jade exhibit, I was looking at some wonderful pieces from a few hundred years ago when a Chinese gentleman carrying a Nikon digital SLR camera approached me. Of course, I had my camera out also. He began to talk about some of the pieces, reading the Chinese for me as the English description was very short. I could tell he knew the collection as he maneuvered around the exhibit in a well traveled manner. He told me to follow him as he wanted to show me the finest piece on the floor. I was brought to an exquisite dark, translucent green jade thumb ring from several hundred years ago.

The Chinese gentleman told me that the ring was very difficult to photograph. The lighting was low and designed to bring out the translucence of the jade without throwing too much light around. Also, a tripod was needed because of the low light, but tripods were not allowed in the museum. So, I pointed my Canon camera and took the shot. He immediately wanted to look at what I had taken. I showed him and he stepped back and smiled with approval. As we parted, I thanked him for showing me around. I walked away watching him taking photos from the angle that I had been shooting from.

I leave China with a tinge of sadness as I’m quite taken with the country and its wonderful people. I’m already planning my next trip and hope to experience more of Zhong Guo, The Middle Kingdom.

Have a great day.

Michael

Our final full day in Beijing began at the 726 acre Summer Palace of which 545 acres is water. The entire acreage is the “palace” and not a specific building. The Summer Palace functioned as a place of relaxation and entertainment for the royal families.

It was originally built in the Jin Dynasty (1115 – 1234). As the years went by, it was extended considerably. In 1860, Anglo-French allied forces burned in down. It was rebuilt in 1888 by Empress Cixi (approximate pronunciation is suh see). In 1900, it was burned again by the Eight-Power Allied Force.

The photo to the left is The Tower of Buddhist Incense. It is a central building in the area and contains a Buddha statue called The Buddha with One Thousand Hands and Eyes. Empress Cixi burned incense on the 1st and 15th days of each month.

We walked the 728 meter (796 feet) Long Corridor, which according to Guinness is the world record. Four pavilions are interspersed throughout and symbolize the four seasons starting with spring and ending with winter at the Marble Boat. Our guide said that the corridor contains over 8000 paintings (landscape scenes, animals and human figures), but one internet source I found estimated the number of paintings to be as high as 14,000.

Our tour of Hutong (Old Beijing) was on bicycle rickshaws. We wound in and out of the narrow alleyways and got a taste of what it’s like to live there. It was actually quiet as we were away from the hustle and bustle of buses and cars. After a fantastic lunch at the Sichuan Restaurant we met with a lady named Mrs. Luo who opened her home to us and gave a tour of the quadrangle that she and two other families shared.

The 60 square meter (640 sq. feet) house had been passed down for six generations (200 years) through her husband’s family. We had a long chat with her and were able to ask her anything. The Hutong area is protected now and high rise apartment buildings cannot be built here. After we left Mrs. Luo, we walked the streets to look at the shops and just watch the busy activity of this rich culture.

The people I encountered in Beijing have been simply wonderful. They are incredibly curious, open, friendly, genuine and possess a great sense of humor. They enjoy talking to us and try to speak as much English as they can. We tried, but not very well, to speak as much Chinese as we could.

I had a good laugh today while at the Summer Palace. Two young, male college students approached me and pointed at their camera. I immediately thought they wanted me to take their picture for them as I was carrying lots of camera equipment. I was wrong. They wanted me to be in a photo with each of them. I was the novelty here! They wanted to show their friends that they had meet an American. I found it quite funny. We figured everything out despite a heavy language barrier. They could say hello in English and I could say hello in Chinese. That’s about it. The rest of our communication was done in hand motions.

Tomorrow we will attempt a quick tour of the Beijing Zoo. I’m hoping to see pandas! We will also go to the Beijing Capitol Museum which was closed on Monday.

Have a great day!

Michael

Today started with a slight change of plans. The Beijing Capitol Museum was closed so we went right to the National Art Museum of China. It was a fabulous place with some fantastic exhibits. The website is mostly in Chinese, but you can navigate okay enough to see some of the exhibits that are showing now.

The piece to the left called “Enjoy a Life of Ease and Comfort” is by Pan Lusheng. He is a contemporary Chinese artist with some extraordinary work currently showing on the first floor.

This is not a painting but more like a weaving. There are literally thousands of colored strings used in making this image. It was quite large, over five feet in height, maybe more. Pan Lusheng’s art was so intricate that it was difficult for me to imagine how long one piece took to create and there were dozens in the exhibit hall.

Numerous other contemporary artists were on display including photographers. I typically don’t enjoy abstract art, but I was uncharacteristically drawn to numerous works in this genre.

I found the most of the artwork to be quite different than anything I had seen before. It was a fantastic experience. Overall, I highly recommend this art museum to anyone visiting Beijing.

After a western buffet lunch (Chinese style), our group split up. Five of us went to visit Yong He Gong, The Lama Temple. I was so happy to visit this working lamasery. It was heavily commercialized in several sections, but numerous historical relics, art and history could be found in every building.

Built in 1694, Yong He Gong was converted to a temple in 1744 when Yongzheng became the emperor. This temple follows the yellow hat sect of Buddhism which is the dominant school now. We started our journey through the temple complex and grounds by lighting three sticks of incense at the entrance. As we slowly meandered around, exploring each building, I found myself becoming increasingly relaxed. The smell of incense was strong in the air and viewing all of the different Buddha statues was amazing.

Our journey took us to the last of the five central buildings called Wanfu Ge (Tower of Ten Thousand Happinesses). Housed here is the statue of Maitreya (the future Buddha). The Maitreya statue stands 18 meters (59 feet) above ground with another 8 meters (26.5 feet) underground. It was carved from a single piece of white sandalwood and is the largest (confirmed by Guinness) of its kind in the world. It was stunning to see up close and personal.

After another wonderful dinner, we went to see the production, The Legend of Kungfu. It was an outstanding show that combined dance, martial arts, recitation, song and acting in a whirlwind of action, drama and art. We were mesmerized for the entire 80 minute production. The basic storyline was about a little boy who starts out as a monk and through many trials and tribulations becomes the Abbot of the monastery. Some of the acts were in the audience which really helped to bring us into the story. I loved it.

Tomorrow is the fantastic 800 year old Summer Palace and a Hutong tour in Beijing.

Michael

We started our day at a state owned jade factory called Run De Jade Garden of Beijing. The tour taught us the many different forms and grades of jade. We also got a first hand view of artisans at work carving jade statues and figurines. The pieces were exquisite. I became quite fond of a small intricately carved dragon of translucent green jade called xiu yan jade.

Walking the Great Wall is the third item I can now check off my “100 Things to Do Before I Die” list. Even though I can now say I’ve been here, it will not be the last. It was much more than my expectations which was surprising because my expectations were very high.

That’s me in the foreground in the photo. We hiked a very steep portion of the Badaling section of The Great Wall. I was with a tour group and we only had one hour of free time, so we hiked/climbed up to the second tower from the entrance and saw a monument to Mao. Some sections were so steep that I had to put my hands on the steps so I wouldn’t fall.

The May 21st issue of The New Yorker has a nice piece called “The Great Wall Mystery” and was written by Peter Hessler. The New Yorker website has a short abstract of this article. It’s a fascinating look at David Spindler’s obsession to unravel the mysteries of this enigmatic structure. According to Hessler, “There isn’t a scholar at any university in the world who specializes in the Great Wall.” It really is hard to believe.

After a quick buffet style Chinese lunch in Badaling, we proceeded back down the mountains to the Ming Tombs. Originally this was a huge complex where no common man was allowed to walk. But now, mixed in with the ancient structures are some of the best fruit producing areas around Beijing.

13 emperor tombs plus numerous other tombs for concubines and other important figures are scattered in this region surrounded on three sides by beautiful mountains. We went to the largest called Chang Ling. The complex was huge and quite beautiful. I saw a Tai Chi demonstration with a master (our group leader) while there. The Stele Pavilion can be seen in the photo to the right.

We continued our journey in the Chang Ling tomb by walking to the top of the Soul Tower. It is the highest point in the area, mountains excluded. Beautiful vistas of the mountains to the west were visible in varying shades of blue gray.

The statue to the left can be found in The Hall of Eminent Favor. It was quite impressive. Chang Ling is one of the two tombs that have been excavated. Inside The Hall of Eminent Favor were many excavated items including ornate headdresses, clothing, armor and etc.

We ended our visit to the Ming Tombs by walking a 1/2 mile of the Sacred Way. It’s a beautiful causeway lined with cottonwoods and willows. Along both sides are large statues of government officials and animals carved in the 1400’s. The sun was low in the west above the distant mountains and there was a light, cool breeze blowing. It was a peaceful and relaxing way to end the day.

On the way back to Beijing, we passed near the 2008 Olympic construction area. We saw the bird’s nest stadium and the water cube. They are two of the most unique and interesting displays of architecture I have ever seen. I can’t wait to see the finished work in August 2008.

Tomorrow we visit the newly opened Beijing Capital Museum, the China Art Gallery and the World of Kung Fu Production.

Michael

Another exhausting day in Beijing. It was the good kind of exhaustion. You know the feeling when you’ve packed several days of vacation work into one day and then went a little bit further.

The day started with an extensive walking tour of the Temple of Heaven; 680 acres of temples, gardens and juniper forests. It was built immediately following completion of the Forbidden City in 1420 A.D. during the Ming Dynasty. The emperor used the temple grounds and buildings twice a year; during the Winter Solstice and spring. It was not occupied during the rest of the year.

Many locals go to this park to practice dance, play music, participate in board games and many other artistic/athletic pastimes. We wandered in and around the people and learned a little bit about how the Chinese relax and interact in Beijing. It was quite the cultural lesson.

As the emperor was the son of heaven, he was the only man to pray to the God in heaven. The common man could not do this. Also, the main temple (The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest – see photo to the left) was higher to show respect for heaven which is the highest. Animal sacrifices were made to insure a good harvest for the coming growing season.

The Imperial Vault of Heaven (see photo to the right) within the Echo Wall is connected to The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest by the Sacred Way or Danbi Bridge. This is the walkway that the Emperor took to reach the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest.

There are some strange acoustic properties within the Echo Wall. If you stand and face the wall and then have a friend go to the other side; when you speak into the wall your friend will hear you. It really works. We tried it. Additionally, if you stand on the three Echo Stones in front of the Imperial Vault of Heaven and clap you will hear an echo on the first stone, two echoes on the second and three on third. Yes, it does work.

Finally we walked through The Circular Mound Altar. The inside section is round representing heaven and the outside section is square representing earth. The entire structure is built on multiples of nine, which is one of the three lucky numbers of the Chinese and it also represents heaven. It was a fascinating place to spend a hot, balmy Saturday morning in Beijing.

Afterwards, we drove to the Beijing Arts & Crafts Group Pearl Center which is a state owned fresh water pearl outlet and had a quick tour. I knew nothing about fresh water pearl production before this. Of course it was also a large retail store where you could purchase high quality pearls of many colors.

At the end of the afternoon we went to the Silk Market which was a nine story building comprised of seemingly hundreds of stores that sell absolutely everything. You can find all the faux items here; purses, luggage, DVDs, electronics, jewelry, clothing, toys, shoes, silk, etc. I was particularly attracted to some jade carvings. You have to bargain hard or you will pay very high prices if you are not careful. It was great fun.

In the evening we went to a show at the Beijing Opera. Wow! Nothing at all like I expected. As we sipped on tea and snacked on Chinese hors d’oeuvres, we watched the combination of dance, recitation, music and acrobatics. It was a stunning show and a completely new experience for me. For Western ears, the music seems quite disjointed and non-melodic. After a little while, you begin to see how each of the instruments is matching the actor’s motions. The sounds were still hard on my ears, but I gained an appreciation for the coordination between the musicians and the actors.

Tomorrow is the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs.

Have a great day.

Michael

Wow! I had an incredible first full day in Beijing, China. We visited Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City and the Beijing Yuanlong Silk Corporation, Ltd. I’m exhausted and sunburned but very happy.

Tiananmen Square is simply enormous. It can hold approximately 500,000 people. Central in the square is the very large granite Monument to the People’s Heroes. The square is bordered to the north by Tiananmen Gate, to the south by Mao Zedong Memorial Hall, to the west by the Great Hall of the People and to the east by the China National Museum. It was quite a windy day as you can see from the flags standing on end.

The Forbidden City seemed to stretch on for ever. We entered through Tiananmen Gate which is on the south side and proceeded through three more gates before reaching the actual city. It was built in the 1400’s and originally had 9,999 rooms, but now only about 7000 are left. It staggers the mind. The Chinese government is currently in a 19 year restoration project. It’s funny because the original city only took 14 years to build.

Deep inside the city we visited the offices and bedrooms of the emperor, empress and the emperor’s concubines. There was a quartz crystal outside the emperor’s bedroom that was huge. It symbolizes frankness, loyalty and purity and weighed several hundred pounds.

The dragon is a symbol of power for the Emperor. Did you know that in Chinese mythology the dragon is composed of 9 different animals; horns of a deer, head of a camel, eyes of a devil, neck of a snake, abdomen of a large cockle, claws of a hawk, scales of a carp, paws of a tiger and ears of an ox.

We ate lunch at the best and oldest Cantonese restaurant in Beijing located north of The Forbidden City. Dinner was at a lovely restaurant called Yu Xiang Ren Jia which featured homemade style food from various regions in China. We shared everything and it was quite good after a long day of walking in the sun.

Tomorrow is the Temple of Heaven.

Michael

In heading to Beijing today, the New Orleans to Chicago leg went without issue; smooth, easy ride. That’s just the way I like them.

Just to balance that out; we had a 2 1/2 hour delay leaving Chicago for Beijing. The motor for the food elevator broke so they had hand carried all of the meals on board for a very full Boeing 747. Right near the end of that effort, a man developed some heart problems and had to be evacuated off the plane. He was not willing to leave and it took numerous officials to wheel him off the plane.

I wasn’t the only one to notice that if the food elevator had not broken, this man would have developed heart problems in the air which would mean that the plane would have had to turn around. There weren’t many places to land a 747 in Northern Canada near the Arctic Circle. But the larger point is that this gentleman’s condition could have turned fatal if he had to wait to get to a hospital. Thank goodness we were still on the ground.

Events like this are some of the reasons why I never worry anymore about being delayed or getting somewhere later than planned. You never know how things are connected.

I live by the phrase, “Wherever you are is where you’re supposed to be.” It really takes care of the pressure and anxiety.

Have a great day!

Michael

For several years, I’ve had a dream to travel to China. In about an hour I start the journey that will fulfill that dream and several others. I’ll be able to check off several items on the list I call “100 Things to Do Before I Die.”

My message today is one of not giving up on your dreams. As long as you stay clear and focused on what you want, keep your hope at the highest level and be okay with not having the dream fulfilled in the present moment, your chances will increase dramatically to accomplish your goal.

You will find that a series of events (seemingly out of the blue) will ensue and propel you towards your dream. I’ve had that happen more times than I can count and the more I practice the principles described above, the better I become at repeating dream fulfillment.

We live in exciting times and it is fantastic to be alive. The only thing stopping anyone from completed their goals and fulfilling their desires is themselves.

Dream big. Keep hope alive. Have fun. And remember that you can’t get it wrong.

Have a great day!

Michael

Jennifer on the blog, Goodness Graciousness, talked about “Does Your Life Matter?” on May 20th. She asks other two other questions: “Does it really make a difference in the world? Do our feeble efforts to live a good life impact anyone?” Her answers were yes, yes and yes.

I whole heartedly agree. She and I share similar beliefs in that changes in the world start with small, simple changes in ourselves. It’s very difficult to measure our effect on others and on the world.

I’m sure most you have heard of the Butterfly Effect theory. I mentioned it in my February 1st post; Get Out of Your Rut. A timely smile to a stranger, a small good deed to friend, an anonymous gift to a child or a good attitude towards life are all examples of actions and behaviors that could have far reaching effects. You may never the downstream effect of these actions.

Macolm Gladwell in his book, The Tipping Point, has many examples of singular events and individuals that have had tremendous impact in the world in a variety of ways. I highly recommend this book not only because it is fascinating but you will see in real examples how you may affect others.

Make a difference in the world. Start by doing something good for yourself.

Michael