I just arrived back in Xiamen from Beijing after a five day whirlwind tour of one of the most historically significant cities in the world. Several of my colleagues here in China told me that one truly needs two full weeks to see Beijing–quite true. I feel like I just got a taste of what it had to offer. In the last few days I, along with my Chinese tour group, visited The Temple of Heaven, the ruins of a palace at Yuanmingyuan (destroyed by the European Powers during the Opium Wars of the 1860s), and The Summer Palace.

The Temple of Heaven was our first stop on Sunday (actually our first stop was teeth grindingly frustrating two and a half hour stop at a “World Park” in Beijing which had kitschy miniaturized versions of significant landmarks from around the world; this is the price for accompanying a tour group–frustrating when there are so many other things to see…but whatever). But the Temple of Heaven is a gorgeous complex of Taoist temples in the Sothern part of the temple. It was constructed in the early 15th century and is considered Taoist, but the prayers associated with good harvests and the like made by the emperor predate both Taoism and the construction of the Temple. The largest temple structure is the pictured Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests–an intricate and massive concical structure perched on the high point of the complex.

At the opposite end of the park is the Circular Mound Altar constructed of perfectly carved and numerologically significant stones. The Circular Mound Altar was used during the Winter Solstice and felt very…well…bizarrely connected to the heavens–though I must admit I don’t really know even what that means. We finished Sunday evening with a stop at a performance house in Beijing for a “circus” or a display of “flying acrobats” which was quite amazing–a kind of Chinese Cirque de Soleil.

On Monday we started our day touring the ruins of a seasonal palace named Yuanmingyaun (say that ten times fast–even harder if you are trying to pronounce it correctly) used by various emperors. Most of the buildings had been built in the latter part of the 18th century and

had had a European/Chinese syncretism in their form and structure. Unfortunately all of the buildings had been completely destroyed during the Anglo-French onslaught of the Opium Wars. I won’t bore you with the details of the Opium Wars (again…Wikipedia is a great resource), but the visit confirmed a deeper understanding of China. The Opium Wars and the control of China by western powers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries was both the high point of European imperialism in Asia and the low point of Chinese imperial power. This period is seen as a humiliating event for the Chinese and is used as an instructive lesson by Chinese for the necessity of strength and unity. In the same way that Americans view the necessity to fight to preserve freedom and liberty as an essential component for what it means to be an American, the Chinese view strength, power, and unity as an essential component to their national survival. The Opium Wars and the carving up of China into European controlled spheres of influence showed the Chinese that weakness and disunity leads to humiliation and potential destruction. The growth of the power of China over the last few decades should not be viewed as imperialistic or as a vehicle for world domination–rather it is simply an continued extension of the lessons they learned at the hands of those who take advantage of weakness. I conjecture that China fears that western countries desire to emphasize disunity within the country is another attempt to weaken China for exploitation–hence the almost pathalogical (at least how we see it) desire for national unity and strength. These historical events are quite fresh in the national psyche of China. Remember the People’s Republic of China, which grew out of this disunity and foreign domination (first the Europeans and then the Japanese), is now only 60 years old.

Lastly on Monday we visted The Summer Palace, located in the Northwest of Beijing. The current incarnation of the palace was built in the latter part of the 19th century after the destruction of the palace also during the Opium Wars. The Summer Palace is dominated by Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake–both large but man-made geographical elements. The rebuilt Summer Palace was used by Empress Dowager Cixi (a fascinatingly complex woman–worth the quick Google search if you have time). Standing on the shore of the Northeastern shore of Kunming Lake and looking out a the boats on the mist-(pollution-?) covered water was very beautiful. Because of time constraints, our group was unable to climb Longevity Hill and visit the various buildings that adorn the hill. I must admit I stood there thinking back to the hour we spent the previous day staring at strange montage of the Grand Canyon, Niagra Falls, and the Golden Gate Bridge in a “1:20 scale” in the “America” section of the “World Park”…if only I could reapportion time. After the summer palace, the tour group made the last of our daily stops to random Chinese restaurants in Beijing and headed off to the airport for the flight “home” to Xiamen.

I now have only a few last days here in China, and I must admit possessing a strong desire to be back home and see my family. There is something unsettling, but good for my character, in being at the mercy of others constantly–especially with the significant language gap. Sitting around circular tables in Chinese restaurants surrounded by a dozen Chinese speaking a language which is still quite mysterious to me or just being immeresed in a social group completely foreign was quite…stretching. I had absolutely no control over any aspect of my life for five days in Beijing and usually only loosely understood what was going on or what was happening next. This is emotionally draining. Such was the situation, to a lesser, degree during my time here in Xiamen. I do believe that while my Chinese language skills have improved only slightly my English language skill have gone into decline. I have only had one evening here in China with native English speakers that allowed me to speak at a normal pace without having to be cognisant of colloquialisms and speed. This does strange things to your psyche. While such an experience is disorienting, I think that it matures my approach to the world and to other people. It certainly makes me more aware that my approach to the world is almost idiosyncratic in the larger context. These are all things that I could probably articulate before my experience in China but now truly understand.

Well, I fly out on Friday with, as you can imagine, very mixed emotions. I hope to see and talk (at a normal pace and with unrestricted colloquialisms) with all of you soon.