My gmail isn't working here (google doesn't work at all unless you go to google.hk, which is censored, Facebook doesn't work either). Pretty interesting stuff! We went to the Great Wall yesterday which was a real hike and workout--I didn't expect that. Thousands of really steep stairs, on the way down, I had to slide on my butt! We had "hotpot" for dinner yesterday. It's boiling water in the middle of the table that you cook raw food in and then dip it in amazing sesame sauce. I guess the Chinese version of Melting Pot. It was so good, but we didn't know what to do at first and no one spoke English, so it was a little intimidating, but it wound up being a great adventure.
Today we went to Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City. In Tian'anmen Square, our tour guide (who has been wonderful!) told us not to ask about the revolution because there were plainclothes police around. Back on the bus, she said she doesn't really know what happened at Tian'anmen. The government tells the people that it wasn't a "revolution," but just some "issues," and no one was killed. Mao's moseleum about the size of the Philadelphia Library is there. He is in a crystal casket that they refrigerate every night to preserve his body. There were thousands and thousands of people in line to pay their respects to him. They are each allowed in for 5 minutes. Forbidden City is where the emperors lived in ancient China. It was really impressive. In the afternoon, we went to Olympic Park where we saw the "Birdsnest" and went in--where the opening and closing ceremonies were and the Water Cube, which they have turned into a giant water park. The Olympic Village was HUGE and they apparently knocked down a whole village and "paid" the people who lived there to leave.
The kids in China have to take a test to go to kindergarten at age 3 and then at age 6 they take another test to go to primary school. The kindergarten test requires kids to be able to eat by themselves, be fully potty trained, and be able to count to 20.
Tonight we're going to a famous duck restaurant that John's friend, Wei, recommended. They cook the duck for hours, roasting the outside, and they pour water in the inside to boil the inside. This way the outside is crispy and inside is tender. They cut the duck into 108 pieces for good luck and each piece is supposed to have duck meat, duck fat, and skin on it.
Tomorrow we are flying to Chongqing and we'll be presenting at the orphanage for the next 3 days. Then we have some downtime for a few days in Chongqing.
Dani Parsell, PsyD Program
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