It’s hard to believe I am starting my 3rd week here in China. I’m caught in some strange limbo where it feels as though I have been here for months, but then again it feels like a few days.
This past week was filled with various adventures. I joined a gym about a 10 minute walk from where my program is located and was thoroughly impressed by it’s sophistication. It has two floors which include a yoga/dance room, a crossfit training room, a weight machine room, a free weight room, a strip of countless treadmills, and a locker room with really great showers. There are also spinning and dance classes that I might jump in on as well.
Thursday was the Mid Autumn Festival which is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar corresponding to a full moon at night. It is an occasion for outdoor reunions among friends and relatives to eat mooncakes and watch the moon, a symbol of harmony and unity. Our academic director treated us to a delicious dinner and for dessert mooncake was served. A mooncake is a rich thick filling usually made from red bean or lotus seed paste and is surrounded by a thin crust that may contain yolks from salted duck eggs.
Also this week, we visited the Western Hills which are formed by the Huating, Taihua and Luohan mountain ranges rising above the eastern and northern banks of Dianchi Lake, the largest lake in Kunming. Here we visited a Buddhist Temple and climed to over 7,000ft to what is known as the Dragon Gate.The gate complex was built throughout 72 years of hard work (1781–1853). The Dragon Gate consists of 3 parts: a stone archway, a platform, a stone room and a number of sculptures, all carved out of the same rock. We hiked all the way up, a tough climb at that altitude, and took a ski lift down the mountain with spectacular views of he city.
Yesterday, we arrived in Beijing and will be here for a few days. Today we saw the Forbidden City. It is enormous and seems to go on forever with its 9,999 rooms. It was very surreal as it is a place I have always dreamed of seeing. Afterwards, we had some free time to explore the city so I decided to go with some friends to a market in one of the Hutong neighborhoods that has all sorts of exotic foods. I decided to test my luck with the scorpions. Despite their appearance they actually aren’t half bad, salty and crunchy, it almost tastes like pumpkin seeds!
Tomorrow I’m off to the great wall. I’ll check back in next week!
平安