Cheng De & More

The highlight of my last week was most certainly our visit to Cheng De. Cheng De is a small mountain city that served as the massive summer home for several emperors in the Qing dynasty. While the sights were fun to see, Cheng De also offered me a very unusual and authentic Chinese experience as well.

Our journey to Cheng De began with a nearly five hour bus ride out of Beijing on Friday afternoon, with our arrival taking place some time around 6 p.m. Our first night in Cheng De was largely uneventful, save a group journey to a local KTV (karaoke bar) that was quite fun.

The next morning we were woken bright and early (maybe a bit too early) for our tour of the summer palace. The palace grounds themselves were quite beautiful, featuring several old pagodas and buildings, as well as boasting a massive lake with many different islands that we could visit.

After touring the grounds for a while we rented a private boat for our group (about 20 kids) and toured some of the various islands on the grounds. The boat ride was quite fun and the islands themselves were beautiful. Everyone enjoyed climbing the rocks on the different islands and exploring their various towers and pagodas.We spent the afternoon visiting "Sledge Hammer Peak" - a very tall and oddly shaped rock that has become famous in Cheng De. The peak is very difficult to reach and requires a nearly 20 minute chair lift ride. The ride itself was enjoyable, however, and featured some scenic shots of the peak itself.
Once we made it up to the top of the peak it was quite scary. With no surprise to me, the Chinese tourist attraction lacked almost any safety measures, you could easily walk right up to (and over if you wanted) the edge and peer down, even right at the base of the "sledge hammer" itself.

The one safety measure the peak did have was this delightful sign. After spotting that I felt much safer. We decided to venture all the way to the narrow base of the sledge hammer itself because our guide, Susan, told us that if you touch the stone you will live for 130 years. I don't know about that, but I figured I would give it a try. Worst case - I still got some great pictures from up on top of the cliff.

After a long day of sightseeing the night still held some adventure for us. To make a long, and somewhat unfortunate, story short - I highly advise everyone reading this to NOT get a "milk bath" under any circumstances - especially if your friends tell you to.

Other than that, one of my friends actually had to go to the hospital that night to receive treatment for a mild infection, nothing serious but the journey to the Chinese hospital was a bit scary as well. Luckily I think I made it out of Cheng De A-OK!

A few other highlights from the rest of this week - on Monday night of this week Ben and I visited a local "English Coffee Shop" where the owner will give free food to anyone who teaches English lessons. Needless to say, Ben and I seized the opportunity and taught a class (with a few other Americans who Ben had met before) about American popular music. We spent an hour or so instructing a classroom full of Chinese people how to say things like "Justin Timberlake," "Alan Jackson," and "Dave Matthews."

After giving the lessons Ben and I sat down to sip on our free coffee and chat with some of the students from the class. Remember - these "students" were really just every day people and most of them were much older than I. One thing that I found to be most interesting - when we were discussing various topics with one of the older Chinese gentleman he somehow produced his business card and handed it to me and Ben. One look at the card and I was blown away - this man had a Ph.D. in Oncology and was a teacher at the Beijing University Medical school. It was truly amazing to think that I, a humble college student, was teaching someone so intelligent and who taught at the very school that I was studying Chinese!

A final anecdote - We discovered another delicious pizza restaurant in Beijing that just recently opened. Named "Pyro Pizza" the restaurant serves delicious pizza with traditional western toppings and sides, and has several local Chinese beers on tap. While eating dinner at Pyro on Wednesday night we actually ran into a friend of mine named Kevin Curley who I had known in the High School debate community. He too was studying Chinese in Beijing for the summer and we had a great time exchanging stories and information about Beijing.

That's all for now! My time in Beijing is really winding down. Only a little over 2 weeks left before I come home! I can't believe the time is flying by so quickly.

Oh - one final note. While many of you know that I used to play a bit of golf now and then, I recently acquired a full set of Callaway X20 Clubs, Irons, Woods, and a putter for about 700 Yuan (less than $100 U.S.). Think that's a steal? Check out the real prices - the irons alone cost about $900 U.S. when they are new. I think I might try to hit up the golf course a little more often now. (Watch out for these in the mail Mom and Dad)