Goodbye Beijing

Our time in Beijing is over. Our flight back home leaves tomorrow at 6:30. Most of us our leaving. Justin is staying to visit his girlfriend in Xi'an, Wenjie is going to her home town to visit and I am staying to go on a quick tour of China with my mom and grandma; everyone else is leaving. We are all really sad to go but also excited to get home and see our friends and family. It has been an awesome trip.

On behalf of all of us I want to thank the people who put this program together. The faculty here at PKU have been amazing. They've helped us so much and worked so hard for us. Also Dr. Burgess has been amazing and also worked extremely hard. The students here have been the greatest. They helped so much and went so far out of their way to show us their country and help us get around. I'm sure we will all stay in touch with them. This has definitely been the experience of a lifetime.

All of us with our Certificates of Completion

This experience has been unforgettable. Not only did we get a chance to learn the basics of TCM but we also experienced the rich culture of China. We saw some beautiful sights and met some amazing people. I'm sure we will all cherish this experience for the rest of our lives. One of the best parts of this trip has been making such good friends within the group. I feel so fortunate to have gotten to know these people. I know we'll all stay friends.

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For the last time, Zai jian!

Visit to Tongretang

Today we had our last field trip to Tongretang, a more traditional Chinese medicine pharmaceutical company. It was interesting to compare and contrast between Tasly, the more modern TCM company. We first took a quick tour of the facilities. We saw the quality control area, the medicine preparation areas, the packaging facilities, and the warehouse. It was a good tour.

The group in the Tongretang lobby

Then we had a quick introduction to the company from one of the workers followed by a video about the company. This was very interesting. Tongretang is a very old company, about 340 years old. It was orginally started as a supplier of TCM for the royal family of China and evolved with the surroundings to become the TCM factory that it is today. It was awesome to be in a place that was so deep in history. After the video we had a quick question and answer session and then we all had a chance to sign the Tongretang guest book. It was a very nice field trip and we were all very grateful.

Manas signing the Tongretang guest book

Zai jian!

The Legend of Kung Fu!!

Tonight we went to a show entitled "The Legend of Kung Fu". It was really fun. Two of our friends from PKU, Richie and Monica, came with us. The show was amazing. It was a play about a young boy, Chun Yi, who came to a temple to become a monk and study Kung Fu. The play was a coming-of-age story where he grew up to reach his ultimate goal of enlightenment. Not only was the plot really interesting and entertaining, but there was some awesome Kung Fu action! It was so cool to watch them do all the crazy flips and martial arts moves. We all were really happy we got to see this. Again, we weren't aloud to take pictures of the show so unfortunately I have nothing to post on the blog, but you will all just have to take my word for it that it was awesome.

Zai jian!

Last Weekend in Beijing :(

Our last weekend in Beijing is over :( We had a really fun time though. Ana, Lena and Greg went to Tai Shan mountain to hike and camp for the whole weekend. We missed them but they had a really fun time. They're going to write something about that so hopefully that will be up soon! The rest of us that stayed enjoyed some more of Beijing's attractions!

Saturday was a day full of shopping! We went down to Beijing's famous Silk Street. It was very impressive. It was six huge floors of everything you can imagine. They had everything from clothes, to shoes, to jewlery, to traditional Chinese everything. It was a lot of fun. I think we all spent a little too much money though! Some people (who shall remain nameless) even bought a new suitcase and filled it up with all the stuff they bought. They even had to unzip the expandable zipper!

Me carrying the suitcase FULL of stuff from Silk Street

Sunday was also a good day. Some of us went to a museum in Beijing called NAMOC. It was very cool. The bottom floor was all modern exhibits. There were some crazy and weird things. There was a room that had a wall that you rub and it smells different scents in different parts of the room. There was another exhibit that was a CGI head on a big screen and you could type into a computer to talk to it and it would talk back to you. There was a computer that was programmed to be continually infected with the Y2K virus and automatically disinfect itself! It was a very neat museum. There were two more floors that were art exhibitions. It was very beautiful exhibit. We really enjoyed that museum.

After that we went to Temple of Heaven. It was a very beautiful place. The most famous building is the Hall of Prayers for Good Harvest. It is a huge circular temple on top of a hill it was very gorgeous. There was also a rose garden that was very nice. One of the most impressive sites was the Echo Hall. It is a circular wall surrounding the Imperial Vault of Heaven. One person stands on the east side of the wall and the other person stands on the west side of the wall and they can talk and hear each others echo. It was very cool. We had a very fun weekend but it is a little bittersweet because we are all sad that we don't have any more weekends together in Beijing.

The Hall of Prayers for Good Harvest at the Temple of Heaven

Zai jian!

Celebration Dinner!!!

Tonight was Dr. Burgess's last night in Beijing so we all went out for a celebratory program dinner. It was a wild adventure! There was a HUGE thunderstorm in Beijing tonight. It poured for hours! This wouldn't have been such a big deal but it seems like the drainage system in this city is really poor. The streets were completely flooded. There was at least a foot of water covering the pavement.

The view of the flooded Beijing streets outside our van

Despite the crazy weather we still had to make it to our dinner! So we left our dorm and climbed into the van. We were in the rain for about 10 seconds between the dorm and our van and we were soaked! It was raining so hard. We drove to the restaurant and saw cars stalled on the side of the road and the streets were so flooded there were waves and wakes from peoples cars! It was really exciting.

We all got to the restaurant in one piece and began our dinner. We were joined by some of the faculty at PKU who helped put together our fantastic program. It was a really nice time. We did many cheers and had a lot of laughs. It was nice to have a fun dinner before Dr. Burgess left. It was also nice to have a chance to thank the faculty at PKU for all their hard work putting together our program as well as Dr. Burgess! The only down side is this means our time in Beijing is running short. We'll just have to enjoy the little time we have left as best as we can!

Some of us at one of the tables at the dinner

Zai jian!

Mandarin Presentations!!

Today we had our final for Mandarin class. We all had to perform a Mandarin presentation. We had to say an introduction speech also. It was fun to watch everyone say their speeches and do their performances. I recorded them all on my camera so everyone can see them! We all did really well.

The first group to go was Alex, Anh and Manas. They all did their introductions and then they did a skit of a Beijing taxi ride.

Alex's Introduction


Anh's Introduction


Manas's Introduction


Alex, Anh and Manas's Presentation

The second group was Ana, Katie and Lena. They said their introductions and then they recited a Chinese poem while doing a dance.

Ana's Introduction


Katie's Introduction


Lena's Introduction


Ana, Katie and Lena's Presentation

Justin went third. He said his introduction and then sang a Chinese love song and translated it to English.

Justin's Introduction and Presentation

The fourth group was Greg and Laura. Below are the videos of their introductions and the skit of a bargaining scene.

Greg's Introduction


Laura's Introduction


Greg and Laura's Presentation

Me, Susan and Wenisa went last. We said our introductions and then did our skit which was made up of three different scenes: a taxi ride, a shopping scene, and a restaurant scene.

Andrew's Introduction


Susan's Introduction


Wenisa's Introduction


Andrew, Susan and Wenisa's Presentation - Scene I


Andrew, Susan and Wenisa's Presentation - Scene II


Andrew, Susan and Wenisa's Presentation - Scene III

After all the presentations our whole Mandarin class got together and sang the popular Chinese song, "Tian Mi Mi".

Tian Mi Mi

Hope you enjoyed our Mandarin Presentations!

Zai jian!

TCM Herb Garden

Yesterday we visited the TCM sample room at PKU. A few graduate students at the university were kind enough to show us around and explain was some of the herbs were used for and how they were collected. There were a lot of samples, including animals! There were dried toads, seahorses, turtle shells, and starfish. There were also thousands of different herb samples. It was neat to see such an extensive collection of TCM sources.

Ana admiring some herbs in PKU's sample room

Today we visited a TCM herb garden in the suburbs of Beijing. It was really interesting. Our tour guide walked us through the garden and showed us many different plant species that have a medicinal purpose in TCM. It was cool to see some of the herbs we've discussed in class in real life. We also saw their library chronicling all the herbs they have in the garden. They had a dried sample and a description of each herb in books and stored in a huge room of filing cabinets. It was an impressive display.

Alex inspecting one of the TCM herbs

After the tour we ate lunch at a very unique restaurant. It was a restaurant that has food made from TCM products. There were salads made from medicinal herbs and dishes made with medicinal animals. It was a really cool experience and a delicious meal! We had tea that was brewed from flowers that are used to treat a sore throat and we had vegetables that promote good circulation. We all left that meal feeling really healthy! We had a really good tour.

Zai jian!

Chinese Acrobats!!

Tonight we attended a Chinese Acrobat show performed by the China National Acrobatic Troupe. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. The things these people could do was amazing. They had everything from a tight-rope walker, to people jumping through hoops about 15-20 feet in the air. It was incredible. We all just sat in awe for the entire show.

Anh practicing to audition for the acrobat show

My favorite part was the tight-rope walker. He was amazing. He not only walked along the rope, but he walked on his hands on it and rolled along it and swung it back and forth. It was just incredible. Also there was an act where these women rode bicycles and at one point they had about 20 people on the bicycle just wheeling around stage like it was nothing. I don't know how they do it Unfortunately they don't allow pictures so I wasn't able to take any. I guess its a good idea. We wouldn't want the flash to through them off and have twenty people on a bicycle come tumbling down. It was such cool show.

Zai jian!

Beijing Botanical Garden

This morning some of us visited the Beijing Botanical Garden. It was beautiful there, but the journey was not so beautiful. It was about an hour long bus ride and as I said before, Beijing public transport is VERY crowded. Not only was it extremely cramped, but today was definetly one of the hottest days we've experienced in Beijing. So we spent an hour on an overfilled, hot and sweaty bus. Besides that it was awesome!

The lake at the Botanical Garden

Manas, Alex, Anh, Laura and Katie relaxing in the garden

The gardens were amazing. There were a lot of different types of plants and flowers. There was also a lake and waterfall. It was very peaceful and serene. We ended up just sitting and relaxing for most of our visit. It was very nice to get out of the city and and enjoy fresh(ish) air and nature and not hear the cars zooming down the road and honking their horns. We had a very good and relaxing day.

Zai jian!

The Forbidden City

Today we visited the Forbidden City in the heart of Beijing! It was an awesome trip. Before we went I didn't understand why it is called a city but now I do; it is HUGE!! We spent about 5 hours walking around and we still didn't see the whole thing. It was beautiful to see the ancient halls and palaces where the emperor used to live and rule China. The thrones that they sat one were beautiful and so intricately decorated. I certainly wouldn't mind being an emperor of China in ancient times! There was a beautiful garden in the back of the Forbidden City as well. There were many old plants and trees. There was even a tree called the "Love Tree" that started growing as two trees and joined to form one tree. It was really cool.

One of the halls at the Forbidden City

We also visited the Gallery of Treasures which had all the ancient jewlery from the emperors and empresses as well as other artifacts from the ancient dynasties. After the city we explored Tiananmen Square which is right outside the Forbidden City. It is a huge plaza in the middle of the city. It was amazing. At the south entrance to the square is a huge gate that in ancient times was used for the defense of the city. It was a really good day and we saw a lot of amazing things.

The group in Tiananmen Square!

Zai jian!

The Tasly Group

We just returned from a two day field trip to The Tasly Group, a modern TCM pharmaceutical company, in Tianjin China. We had a really fun and interesting trip. We left Beijing on Tuesday morning and had about a 2.5 hour drive to Tianjin. When we got there we were brought to a conference room and given a brief introduction to the company. It was really interesting. They discussed how the company researches and implements the modernization of TCM through improving quality control and dosage strategies. They also discussed how a division of their company is dedicated to modern pharmaceutics and developing western medicine. It was a sharp contrast between western pharmaceutical companies where the sole focus is on western medicine. Tasly has a good balance between refining and modernizing TCM and also developing western medicines. Their strategy seems to be working because they are one of the most successful companies in China! We then had lunch with some of the executives of Tasly. It was a lot of fun to get to know them and to learn more about the company.

After this we went to visit Tianjin University of TCM. There we had a brief introduction to TUTCM. This is a very specialized university that solely focuses on the study of TCM. We had a tour of their campus and facilities. We saw training rooms where the students practice TCM techniques. There were machines with robotic arms so the students could practice reading a pulse (a very important diagnostic method in TCM). There was also a machine that takes a picture of a person's tongue so it can be used to diagnose a patient's disease state (another important TCM diagnostic tool). Some of us had our tongues read by the students. It was neat to see this specialized TCM school.

Katie learning how to check a pulse

Ana getting her tongue examined

That night we stayed in Tasly's company hotel. It was nice to escape our accommodations in Beijing for a night. Tasly also was a gracious enough to allow us the use of the Recreation Center. That was a lot of fun. There were a lot activities, such as a karaoke bar, a bowling alley, and ping-pong tables. We had a really good time.

The next day we had a tour of the Tasly factories and grounds. We saw where they process the herbs for the medicine and also where they package and store the finished products. To go into these areas we all had to dress up in white lab coats and wear hair nets and shoe envelopes. We looked pretty funny. We also explored the grounds. It was beautiful. There were many fountains and sculptures throughout the company land. There was also a beautiful, long carved stone wall that told a story of the development of TCM throughout China's history. It was a beautiful tour. The trip culminated with lunch and then we began our long drive back to Beijing. It was an amazing field trip and we are all so grateful for Tasly's hospitality.

The group dressed up to tour the factories

Zai jian!

Beijing Zoo and Aquarium

Today some of us went to the Beijing Zoo and Aquarium. It was a fun trip. It was really close to campus, only about a 20 Yuan taxi ride. The zoo was so crowded. It felt like all of China was there. There was hardly any room to walk and people were pushing and shoving all over the place. Aside from the crowds it was a lot of fun.

The zoo had a lot of different animals. We saw everything from zebras to tigers to a peacock. And of course a trip to the zoo in China would not be complete without seeing the giant pandas! That was really cool. We saw 4 different pandas and one was even climbing a tree. Some of the animals in the zoo seemed out of place. They had raccoons, squirrels and chickens in the zoo. They didn't seem like zoo animals to us.

The Giant Panda climbing a tree

After the zoo we went to the aquarium. It was probably the nicest aquarium I have been to. We got there just in time to watch a dolphin show. It was awesome. The dolphins did amazing tricks and were so fun to watch. They also had escalators that went right through the fish tanks. That was really neat. It was a really fun day.

Wenisa and Susan in front of a fish tank at the aquarium

Zai jian!