"English Corner," Forbidden City and the Ricksha Experience!

Hi Everyone!

Last night, Matt and I went to "English Corner" on Renmin's campus. It's a gathering every Friday night, it starts at 7 and goes well into the early morning hours. Beijingers from all over the city come to practice their English, and English speakers come to learn about China. It was pouring rain, but that didn't stop us!! As soon as we arrived at the square, we were SURROUNDED by eager Chinese wanting to practice their English. We had a lot of conversations, from Obama-McCain to the Sub-prime mortgage crisis to the way Chinese perceive Americans and visa-versa. I have to share my favorite quote of the night. I was talking to "Sponge" (most likely acquired his name from SpongeBob Squarepants) and he was asking about the different English accents. He told me that the Chinese are taught the queen's English because "American" English is "Farmer" English!!! I had to laugh. After Matt and I shared our experiences to our group this morning, I think a lot of more English people will join us next week!

We visited Forbidden City and it was just unbelievable. Every time we went through a new gateway, we realized how hard it would've been to break into the city hundreds of years ago! Although Forbidden City was a highlight this morning, Tienanmen Square was my favorite.

According to our tour guide, Steve, Tienanmen Square is the largest city-square in the world. At one end is Mao's Memorial. Inside, his body is "preserved" (although skeptics think he's now just a wax model). At the other end is the famous gate into the Forbidden City, adorned with Chairman Mao's gigantic portrait. On the west side, the Chinese Parliament building overlooks the historic square.

Finally, we got to see the Houhai district, which is world-renown for its' foreign bar district. We all got to ride in a double-rickshaw into a historic hutong. A hutong is a narrow-alley neighborhood that is closed in on all sides by small homes.

The last thing we did today was visit the Prince Gong Mansion and Garden in Beijing. We visited a traditional tea ceremony. I will post the video from that experience tomorrow.

Mark