For the Sunday free day, we were encouraged to explore our own interests and build our own itinerary. I chose to survey three religious traditions of China: Christianity, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Each of these religious traditions has been neatly defined and packaged by textbooks and scholarly articles. Nevertheless, as I set out for South Cathedral on Sunday morning, I did not anticipate the cosmopolitan mixture of religion and culture that awaited me. Also, despite the rejection of religion by the Chinese government in the mid 20th century, I was impressed by the level of religiosity throughout Beijing. China remains a place of deep spirituality.

Jacqueline, Jennifer, Kim, and I arrived at South Cathedral for the 10am English language mass. The church displayed a profound degree of diversity. I expected to see Caucasian and Chinese English speakers present for this mass. Yet this mass, far from being a gathering of visiting Westerners, was a microcosm of 21st century Catholicism. The congregation had the face of the new and old Christendom with Chinese and Africans as well as Americans and Europeans all present throughout the congregation. While the priests and altar servers were Chinese, the scripture readings were proclaimed in English and French.

How did Christianity, considered a Western religion, arrive in Beijing? South Cathedral helps us answer that question. The Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci established this church in Beijing in 1605. Ricci's statue stands at the entrance to the cathedral grounds, venerated by pious church-goers. However, the cathedral that Fr. Ricci established is not the same building that stands today. It was damaged by fire in 1775 until the Emperor Qianlong paid for its reconstruction. The church was also damaged during the Opium Wars and was finally destroyed by the Boxers in 1900. The Baroque-style cathedral that stands today was rebuilt in 1904.

South Cathedral presents us with a salient example of the cosmopolitan nature of religion in Chinese history. A church that was established by an Italian priest and supported by the Ming Emperor Wanli had its facade destroyed and rebuilt throughout China's tumultuous history of the last few centuries. In the mid 20th century, religion was under great suspicion by the communists. Yet today Christianity is openly practiced in Catholic and Protestant Churches recognized by the Chinese government. The government estimates that about 2% of China’s population is Christian, and this figure does not include those practicing in the outlawed “house churches.” In any case, the piety expressed at South Cathedral appears no different than the worship we witnessed later this day at the Buddhist and Confucian temples. These are simply the many faces of religion in China.

After leaving the cathedral, our small group journeyed to two other holy sites. The Lama Temple was historically a residence to the Emperor Yongzheng until he moved into the Forbidden City in 1722. The temple has become the residence of Mongolian and Tibetan monks. As one proceeds through the pavilions, deeper into the temple grounds, the Buddha and bodhisattva statues grow larger and more ornate. Each statue is surrounded by devout Buddhists offering prayers with smoking sticks of incense. One’s journey through the Lama Temple reaches a profound sensory climax with the appearance of the final, Maitreya Buddha statue reaching 18m-high. It is difficult to express the shock and awe that this enormous statue elicits. I found it to be a great symbol of the deep religiosity of these Chinese Buddhists.

Finally, we visited the Confucius Temple and Imperial College. Rather than the smell of incense, the chanting of prayers, or the ornate statues, visitors observed the place where emperors lectured on Confucian classics and where many Chinese gather to venerate the memory of this great philosopher.

In the street shops outside of these temples, my colleagues remarked that statues of Confucius and the Buddha were displayed together. Symbols from many Chinese religions were all side-by-side. This observation is representative of China's religions and culture. Everything coexists. The Chinese are very practical about religion and there are few strict lines of demarcation between these various traditions. In addition, I must say I was struck by the piety of the Chinese that I encountered throughout the day. Whether bowing in reverence to the statue of a Jesuit missionary or a bodhisattva, religion is clearly a significant part of many Chinese lives. These traditions are part of China’s rich history and seem to have reemerged as part of the cultural fabric of China’s future.

While normally, I would title a blog entry with the date and day of the week included, I have not done so in this case because I truly have no idea what day it is or day of the week. I have lost time in China, but it has been well worth it!
Today was an absolutely incredible experience. The first activity of the day is, of course, eating breakfast with the entire NCTA group. It is a phenomenal way to start off each day and I really think the group has become rather cohesive. I truly enjoy spending time with everyone each day. After breakfast we took the Beijing subway to Tiananmen Square which was closed for the day. Today just so happens to be the 90th anniversary of the communist party. While I am already wildly grateful for this experience, I am even more excited to be in Beijing for a major historic event. David mentioned that the Chinese are awfully dubious about anniversaries, but it seems as though this one is quite important regardless of skepticism. Once we got off at the subway stop, we walked through rather large crowds to get to the Forbidden City. Walking through the crowd was an experience in and of itself. There were military personnel everywhere, but they seemed incredibly young. Random people jumped in our group photos throughout the walk which was absolutely hilarious. Possibly the most interesting; however, was the propaganda everywhere. The police were wearing red arm banners as were the subway workers. Only later did I learn that such items were mandatory rather than voluntarily worn. As disappointing as it was to see that the square was closed, it was also extremely fascinating. We finally felt the reach of the government, even if it inhibited our tourist experience. Personally, I would rather experience something that historic in nature than actually place myself in the square any day. While I may some day return to China and stand in Tiananmen Square, I will never again be able to experience any of the chaos that ensued during the 90th anniversary of the communist party.
After trekking down the street, we went into the Forbidden City… which really is a city! I had absolutely no concept of how large the city would be. While I have travelled to Versailles and the Topkapi Palace, I have never, ever seen a palace as large as this! The structures and open spaces went from a rather large area to small, intimate homes. The architecture and artistic nature of the decorations were nothing short of fascinating. At points I found myself with very little to say (which is always unusual) because the entire experience was so breathtaking. The layers of the palace could certainly keep out enemies. The larger portions at the beginning of the palace would make any human feel insignificant. The open spaces were huge, and the building absolutely enormous. Did I mention the ice cream was phenomenal as well?
After visiting the Forbidden City, the group had the opportunity to meet Mr. Yeh, who is arguably the most fascinating human being I have ever met. Mr. Yeh had quite the history to share with us. To begin with, he lives in a Hutong that his father originally owned. It is incredibly well preserved and has a beautiful court yard where his father used to translate literature into other languages for the government. While his father translated Mao Zedong’s poetry and undoubtedly did work for the communist party, he was never a member himself. Again, this was fascinating. How did a man, so closely related to the communist regime, avoid becoming a member at any point in time? That must have taken a great deal of skill and possibly some sleepless nights. Mr. Yeh shared with us works of literature he had written as well along with his own views about education and freedom in general. He gave David a book that he wrote which entailed “social fiction” as he called it that included information about recent events in historic and political history. After the visit to his beautiful home, meeting his wife, and two adorable dogs, Mr. Yeh took us on a tour of the Hutong. The walk certainly enlightened me. While someone can read quite a bit about a neighborhood, or the way people live, it is never real until seen, smelled and heard. The Hutong was a lively neighborhood and I was very surprised that the residents were not startled by a large group trekking through. It seems as though tourists are a common scene. I could not figure out whether the Hutong was a luxurious place to live, a difficult place to live, or a community made up of many socioeconomic backgrounds. Regardless, the entire experience was one I would have never had without the NCTA tour and Mr. Yeh. While I fancy myself as an adventurous human being, I would have never walked into that neighborhood without a bit of guidance and I certainly would not have been enlightened as I was without Mr. Yeh.
After the visit to the Hutong it was off to the “Times Square” of Beijing or Wangfujing. While such an experience may not seem extremely exciting, I had been dreaming of going to such a place for my entire existence… but for one reason… the food! I knew that China as well as other parts of Asia was famous for a variety of meats and exotic dishes. Upon venturing to this area of town, I had one mission, and one mission only… eat something ridiculous! At first; however, I must admit I was put off by the live scorpions moving their legs on the sticks, but I knew I was going to try them anyway. After walking through the hall of “stuff” where hucksters attempt to sell people all kinds of souvenirs, we ventured to “snack alley.” There I found myself ingesting scorpion on a stick and a snake. They were fabulous. In fact, I would do it again tomorrow. The entire experience was followed by a rather hilarious rickshaw ride back to the hotel. Overall, today was extremely busy, but easily one of the most memorable and interesting experiences of my entire existence.

Ni hao from Beijing!

Greetings from Beijing! We have all arrived safely after ourr 13 hour flight from Chicago. Two of the members of our group who were coming through from San Francisco via Denver were delayed in Denver but will be joining us this morning so we can’t wait to meet up with them this morning.

The flight wasn’t too bad. Most of us slept on and off thanks to the recommendation of our tour leaders to take a little Dramamine. There were several in-flight movies and we were well fed and had opportunities to get up and stretch from time to time. Other than the long flight, perhaps the best reminder that we really were on the other side of the world is the fact that we East-coasters did not have to adjust our watches, just our mindsets, as the time flipped from AM to PM.

Upon arrival in Beijing one of the things that stood out was the fog (or smog? ) or perhaps some combination of the two. It is almost as if you really have to “look” for Beijing to see it. A first impression of the Beijing airport is that it is huge, clean, and very efficiently managed. Going through customs was a breeze. The airport, which notably was not over-air conditioned the way our buildings at home can be, does have the effect of making you feel very small. Leaving the airport we saw large billboards with slogans and the Chinese Communist Party logo on them. Our Chinese tour guide on the bus mentioned to us that this week there will be a large celebration of the Chinese Communist Party’s 90th anniversary. It will be interesting to see the influence of communism in China (Mao is on every denomination of currency here) although the influence is not obvious when juxtaposed with all of the advertisements for Dior, Gucci, and Lancome that are almost as prevalent as CCP logos here.

We went our for dinner last night as a group to a neighborhood restaurant. As we walked in I noticed a large fish in a tank near the door. I’ve been told by Chinese-Americans that the mark of an authentic Chinese restaurant at home is this type of large fish tank and lots of Chinese patrons. We ordered several dishes to share, thanks to David our tour leader who speaks quite good Mandarin! We practiced using our chop sticks and brushing up on our basic phrases – “xie xie” (pronounced sher sher) which means “Thank You” and should not be confused with shi shi which means “pee pee”!” The food was delicious, including a beautifully prepared and delicious fish entre. We noticed that the large fish in the tank by the door was not there as we left…

We checked into our hotel, the Chong Wen Men hotel in Beijing (phone 86 10-65122211 – a room number list follows so you can call us in our rooms later in the evening when we return from our activities ). It is very nice and they had quite a spread for breakfast this morning – everything from dumplings to coffee to croissants. Most of us slept well and comfortably (minus the 3am wake up time from the jet lag) and are excited to start our day today!

Room Numbers:

David 656
Lauren 652
Kevin and Chris 658
Samantha and Donna 615
Kim and Katie 605
Lisa and Amy 601
Jennifer and Liz 623
Jackie and Maral 678
Stephanie – TBD upon arrival
Matthew 668

Signing off from Beijing,
Jackie Fludd