Yesterday we started off with a long ride out of the city of Beijing to the Great Wall of China. We visited just a small section of it by going on a really beautiful gondola ride. It was so crowded on the wall that a couple of us took a dirt road path to avoid the crowds. And when I say crowds here, I mean crowds!! Thousands and thousands of people scrambling up areas that were so steep they didn't even have steps. It was amazing.
After lunch it we were off to the Ming Tombs. This is an underground burial space with 13 tombs spread over 15 square miles during the Ming Dynasty. The most beautiful spot in this area was known as the Sacred Way, which is a very long walkway leading up to the Ming Tombs. This area was landscaped with an allee of weeping willows that had their newest, greenest leaves on. The weather has been absolutely perfect here. Since I've been here I've seen several types of trees leaf out and every day feels warmer and more like spring. I'm looking forward to seeing what the weather is like in Wuhan.
Today was another really busy day starting off with a quick trip to visit the Pandas in the Beijing zoo. I'm traveling with the Director of Horticulture at the San Diego Zoo, so it was really interesting to hear his perspective on what we were seeing. He spoke of the difficulties in zoo horticulture, such as soil compaction within the habitats and building sound structures for the animals that also blend into the landscaped habitats. The animals and horticulture were beautiful, but I couldn't help but wish I was viewing the Pandas in a more authentic environment. Perhaps in Yunnan province...
We also visited the Summer Palace, which was the summer home for the emperor. It was an amazingly beautiful spot with a huge lake that we took a ferry ride across. After lunch we were off to the Beijing Botanical Garden. We were all really excited about this part of the trip. Apparently, so were all 15 million Chinese who live in Beijing! So maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but today was a special day when all of the flowering peaches were opening. So it was a popular place to be. It felt a little bit like the Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in terms of how many people were there. I spent most of the time in the Conservatory which was really huge with some amazing features.
And tonight we saw the Peking Opera! What a sight! The costumes and makeup alone were breath-taking. The acrobatic feats were unbelievable. I really couldn't believe my eyes.
Tomorrow we have a few spots to visit in the morning and then we are off to Wuhan for the reception party at the Wuhan Botanical Garden for next week's conference. I'm looking forward to meeting up with Claire and hearing how her time was in Shanghai. The pictures are of the Sacred Way at the Ming Tombs, The Great Wall of China and our tour guide, Katy (Yen), at the Beijing Botanical Garden.
No comments:
Post a Comment