Ivy Tech China Blog – Day 4 –May 14, 2008
Welcome to the Ivy Tech China Blog for the trade delegation from Northwest Indiana –
(Please note that I’m unable to access the blog from China and won’t be able to read any posts from the readers as this is being posted each day from the college.
Day 4 was about Chinese history and cultural learning while we visit Tian An Men Square,
The Forbidden City & the Great Wall of China and a Chinese marketplace near
the Olympic village.
Tian An Men Square – (the gate of heavenly peace)
Tian An Men Square is the main entrance of the imperial city in both Ming & Qing dynasties, where the emperor promulgated his edict. The Square is very tall and looks majestic with its upturned eaves, carved beams and yellow walls. China states that the square is the new symbol of their country. Please note in the photo of the square that all the structures are reddish in color. The Chinese gods thought that red was powerful. All entrances in any palace, square, or buildings of historical importance faced south. The Chinese believe that the south facing buildings gets energy from the sun. The upturned eaves indicated dragons, & powerful animals to keep evil spirits out of the buildings. The size of the square is 720,000 square meters.
The Forbidden City
The Forbidden City is located just south of Tian An Men Square. The Palace Museum is located with The Forbidden City & is exactly the same size as Tian An Men Square. To say that these 2 areas are massive in length & width doesn’t quite explain their size. If you stand on one corner of the square or forbidden city you can’t see the other corner due to the distance. The Forbidden City has one straight line path that runs down the middle of the entire palace. All measurements, buildings, & rooms are perfectly parallel to the middle line. Each of the 8707 rooms is perfectly square. All courtyards, motes, lawns & gardens were designed in a perfect square. The Forbidden City was built in 1406. It took 100,000 worker slaves 14 years to build the city. The city was the former palace of 14 of the ruling emperors during the Ming & Qing dynasties. The emperors “employed” thousands of workers to protect anyone attempt to place harm on him.
After lunch we visited a vase manufacturing facility that still uses 800 year old techniques to manufacture copper enameled vases & other products. We then drove to the Great Wall of China located north of Beijing.
The Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China was built over 2,000 years ago, by Qin Shi Huangdi, the first emperor of China during the Qin (Ch’in) Dynasty (221 B.C – 206 B.C.). In Chinese the wall is called “Wan-Li Qang-Qeng” which means 10,000-Li Long Wall (10,000 Li = about 5,000 km).
After uniting China from seven Warring States, the emperor connected and extended four old fortification walls along the north of China that originated about 700 B.C. (over 2500 years ago). Armies were stationed along the wall as a first line of defense against the invading nomadic Hsiung Nu tribes north of China (the Huns). Signal fires from the Wall provided early warning of an attack.
The Great Wall is one of the largest building construction projects ever completed. It stretches across the mountains of northern China, winding north and northwest of Beijing. It is constructed of masonry, rocks and packed-earth. It was over 5,000 km (=10,000 Li) long. Its thickness ranged from about 4.5 to 9 meters (15 to 30 feet) and was up to 7.5 meters (25 feet) tall. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the Great Wall was enlarged to 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles) and renovated over a 200 year period, with watch-towers and cannons added. The great wall is the only structure on earth that’s visible from rotating satellites or manned spacecraft. While driving towards to wall it was visible from almost 3 miles away. We walked the Badaling section of the wall that had stairs that had 70-80 degrees of slope and were difficult to maneuver.
Tomorrow we’ll the day leaving Beijing to fly to Shenyang in the northeastern section of China called the Liaoning Provence. Shenyang is approx. 600 miles from Beijing.
Below is the itinerary for Tuesday and Wednesday
May 13, 2008 – Tuesday – Beijing
7:30 AM Breakfast at hotel
8:30 AM Forbidden City Tour (Next to Tiananmen Square)
1:00 PM Tour of the Great Wall of China
4:30 PM Tour of the Chinese marketplace near the Olympic village.
7:30 pm Arrive back at hotel for dinner
May 14, 2008 – Wednesday – Beijing – Shenyang
7:00 AM Breakfast at hotel
Check out of hotel
8:00 AM Depart hotel for Beijing International Airport
We will assemble in the hotel lobby and go by chartered bus to the airport.
10:30 AM Depart for Shenyang International Airport via Air China -Flight 6102
11:40 AM Arrive Shenyang International Airport
After picking up your luggage and leaving the secured area, we will be
greeted by a Shenyang government official. We will take a chartered bus to the hotel.
12:30 PM Check into Sheraton Shenyang Lido Hotel
1386 Qingnian Street
Heping District Shenyang, Liaoning, CHINA 110004
86 24 2318 8888
86 24 2318 8000 fax
www.sheraton.com/shenyang
1:00 PM Luncheon with Mayor of Shenyang
3:00 PM Tour of Shenyang Economic Development Zone
7:00 PM Dinner with Liaoning Province Vice Governor
Attached photos – # 1090 – The Forbidden City
# 1091 – The trade delegation in Tian An Men Square
# 1095 – the palace eaves-
# 1105 - the palace roof
# 1129 – the Great Wall of China lookout
# 1131 – The Badaling Section of the Great Wall
# 1134 – Bill on the Badaling Section
