Bye-Bye Beijing

We've been in Beijing for 6 days now and it has been quite the experience...
My first opportunity to interact with the Beijing community was with the vendors of: The Silk Market.  Now, while this has definitely been an "experience" it was quite the culture shock from the calm, daily life of Missouri.  Immediately you are overtaken with the sight of never-ending purses, shoes, shirts, and bags that hang from invisible walls stretching from floor to ceiling.  So many sizes, colors, shapes, models, and accessories that you almost miss the designer names that are glued onto the sides of them: Polo, Dolce&Gabbana, Puma, Ralph Lauren, Lacoste, Louis Vuitton, Coach, Nike, Mulberry, and more.  Only after actually physically stepping into the area do you realize that your sense of sound is picking up the foreign voices yelling at you to "look around" and "see what you like."  Every stall has the exact same material, causing each and every vendor to have to make themselves stand out by grabbing onto your arm and shirt, saying they're not going to let go until you buy something from them because they'll give you a "real good deal, just for you."  They want you to like them ("You so smart and pretty, you have boyfriend?"), laugh with them ("If I thought you were a fool, I'd have given you this one!  See?!"), interact with them ("Which one you like?  I have many colors."), and, in going through all the efforts, buy from them.

My first purchase was a tie:
Vendor: "I give you tie for 600 yuan!"
Me:  "Oh, no!!!  (laughs)  Never mind, I'm good..."
V: "How much you want?"
M: "No... I don't want it that bad."
V: "Where you from?"
M: "Missouri...  United States of America?"
V: "Oh!  America!!  I like you....  I give you good deal.  Only 560 yuan!"

Eventually, I ended up paying somewhere around 25 yuan ($3.85) for the tie - which now I know was not too bad of a deal (others got one for less than 15!).  But watch out!  Haggling is quite addictive.  There were times when I didn't need to buy anything, I just wanted to bargain for something in general.  But if you ever try to step away, they grab you and never let go...

The Great Wall was quite a trek!  There's an easy route and a hard one... And unless you want to go rock climbing, take the easy one.  I wanted the hard one, the challenge, the one with less people on it.  And while I was all eager and ready to go in the beginning, about 1/3rd of the way to the top I started to seriously reconsider my mental state of mind.  The "walk" up the Great Wall was more like climbing up the side of skyscraper that had steps or rails to hold on to sometimes.  But by the time you get to the top, the view is INCREDIBLE.  You can see for miles around the hills and mountains and through the fog (and pollution) you can make out remnants of the towers on wall in the distance that serve as a reminder of how long and strong this stone structure really is.
The Forbidden City leaves a mark on you in a very similar fashion.  As soon as you enter the first gate, the Imperial Palace opens up onto a massive courtyard with a small river running through the middle and bridges carved of white stone.  The detail in every little brick and tile is underestimated and the history behind each room is beyond words.
Unfortunately, however, the Summer Palace did not leave the same impression on me.  But that might have been for many different reasons: it was about to rain, we didn't get to really see anything except the tourist-y places from far away, my shoes were killing me, etc.  It was very beautiful, but perhaps I shall visit again one day when I have a better appreciation for it.
As for the Temple of Heaven, I must say my reaction for this was quite different.  At first, I was excited to see it.  After learning about the meaning of this and the other temples surrounding it, it was wonderful to actually get to experience being there.  However, it was smaller than I imagined it to be and the sense of awe that I felt with the Great Wall and Forbidden City was not there.  I still took some pictures and walked around for a little bit with my roommate, Linh, but it wasn't until we got back to the main temple, about to head out, when we decided to stop.  It was a nice day.  The crowds were starting to thin out a bit.  So we thought, "why not just sit down and enjoy this for a moment?"  So we did.  And it was well worth it!  We sat on the main steps of the temple, watching the people go by, listening to the sound the wind makes as it moves past the big city in the distance, watching the birds land on the roofs of the archways beneath us and it was so peaceful.  I felt more connected to China in that one instance than all of my time in Beijing.  Besides, how often do you just chill at the Temple of Heaven?!
After meeting with the execs of Associated Press, Caterpillar, standing on the street corner with some "Ladies of the Night" offering "personal massages," and singing a bit of kareoke it was time to leave...  It was fun, but bye-bye Beijing.  Hello, Shanghai!