The Chinese National Museum

As I briefly mentioned in my last post about Labor Day here in China, I had last Friday off in honor of the holiday. Since traveling in China during national holidays seems to more of a lesson futility due to the large crowds of tourists everywhere, I decided to stay in Beijing and visit some places I wanted to see before I leave. Included on that list, was the newly-reopened Chinese National Museum (中国国家博物馆).

After undergoing over three years of renovations, the National Museum recently re-opened after years of arguing and revisions. Historically, the current site of the National Museum was home to two separate museums, the Museum of Chinese History and the Museum of the Chinese Revolution; they were combined in 2003 to make up the Chinese National Museum. In an effort to boost China's (specifically, Beijing's) international standing, the Chinese government decided it was time to renovate and bring the museum up to par (or at least, what they felt like was up to par).

The original plan was to have the museum completely redone, renovated and opened for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, however due to years of arguing and disagreement over the museum's content and endless revisions on the interior design, was not finished in time. Nor was it finished in time for it's second hoped-for end date, which was supposed to coincide the 60th Anniversary of Communist rule on October 1, 2009. Finally, the National Museum reopened just this past March after years and years of delay.

Since 2008, China's museums have gradually begun waiving their entrance fee, in hopes of attracting more visitors. While I appreciate free museum admission as much as anyone, in the case of the National Museum, this seems to have backfired.

Fragrant Hills

The week before last, after midterms were over, I went to Fragrant Hills Park (香山公园) with some friends. This park on the outskirts of Beijing is a popular destination in the fall for many people since it's a great place to see the fall colors.

Unfortunately for us though, the strong winds of the week before had blown most of the leaves off the trees. Nevertheless, it was nice to be out of the city and walking amongst trees instead of buildings for a change.

Since many of the pictures I took of things didn't turn out particularly well this time, here are some pictures of people. For those of you who've been complaining that there are no pictures of me on this blog...here you go. Click to enlarge the image, if you must.

Emilia & I

(Left-right) Me, Stephanie, Christine,
Emilia & Irene

(Left-right, top-bottom) Beichuan, Emilia, Paul, Yandi, Irene,
Christine, me, Arvin

(Left-right) Yandi, Arvin, Beichuan

(Left to right) Emilia, Paul, me, Christine & Irene

(Left-right) Arvin, Beihcuan, Yandi, Paul, me, Christine,
Emilia, Stephanie & Irene

Special Thanks to Yandi Santosa for many of these photos. 

Disclaimer: If I spelled your name wrong in the captions, I'm sincerely sorry. Let me know and I'll make the necessary changes.

Great Wall Pictures

There are several sections of the Great Wall that are accessible from Beijing. The most visited portion is Badaling and its many past visitors include Richard Nixon, Margaret Thatcher, Mikhail Gorbachev and Queen Elizabeth. It is also the section I went to nine years ago when I visited Beijing with my Dad. Largely built during the Ming dynasty, it eventually fell into disrepair and was restored in the 1950s and 60s.

This time though, I went to the Jinshanling portion, which still has portions that are in ruins. It also is (slightly) less popular with most tourists so it offers a less crowded experience for those who want to visit the Great Wall without the giant tourist crowds that tend to descend on Badaling.


Hope you enjoy these pictures!

More pictures on Angela Photo Musings.

Guess where I went today...

Anyone?

That's right! I went to the Great Wall today. (Okay, so the photo on the bottom, gave it away. Oh well.)

Every month my school offers one free excursion for international students and this month's activity was a trip to the Great Wall. From Beijing, there are several sections you can visit, the most touristy and popular of which is Badaling. Originally, we were told we were going to the Simatai portion of the wall, but instead today I found myself at the Jingshanling portion. Not that I'm one to complain about a free trip.

By the way, for those of you who know of my giant fear of heights, steep stairways and steep sloped roads, you should be very proud of me. Despite my fears, I was able to walk pretty far on the wall, despite having to navigate many scary, steep stairs. In fact, I went farther than many of the other students on  the trip. I'm proud of myself right now, actually.

And for those of you naysayers who say the stairs couldn't really be that bad, then you clearly have never witnessed my irrational fear of heights. Trust me, it's bad. Not to mention uncontrollable. So don't make fun of me.

 Click for larger image

More photos to come later.