The departure from Massillon and the arrival in China:
On Sunday 9th April, at 5 am, we took the bus
at Massillon in order to go to the Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.
We arrived at 10:30, and we took the plane at 1:30 pm. It was an 11-hour flight
and the jet-lag was of 6 hours. So we arrived in Xi’an on Monday at 5:30 pm and
we waited 5 hours to finally take another plane to go to Beijing. We finally
arrived at the Hotel of Beijing University in the afternoon and we used the
rest of the afternoon to relax or to trade Euros against Yuans, the Chinese
currency.
In the plane
In the hotel in Beijing
Tuesday 11th April, first day in China:
We had breakfast in the hotel restaurant and we
took the bus so as to go to the Great Wall of China. The Wall measures 8800 km
but we only walked up a little part of it. After this, we went to a restaurant,
where all meals were composed of many dishes which were put on a big tray that
turns and people helped themselves. In the afternoon, we went to the Olympic
Park. We saw the Olympic Stadium called the “Bird’s Nest,” and we saw the
Olympic swimming pool called the “Water Cube.” In the evening, we saw an
acrobatic show and then we went back to the university hotel.
View from the Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China
Wednesday 12th April:
We went to see the Great Theatre of Beijing but
we couldn’t go inside because there was a conference. Therefore we went to the
Tiananmen Square, the biggest square in the world and we visited the Forbidden
City. There were many temples. We also climbed to Jingshan Park. After lunch,
we went for a walk in the hutongs which are narrow streets typical of Beijing.
The Great Theatre of Beijing
In the Forbidden City
Thursday 13th April:
In the morning, we went to the Summer Palace,
saw the stone boat of the Princess Xie Xie, and visited the park of the Palace.
After, we took the boat in order to cross the lake. In the afternoon, we went
to the Sky Temple which is the place where the Emperor prays to his Gods. And
after this visit, we took a “tuc tuc” to visit the old district of Qianmen.
And, for our last dinner in Beijing we ate a Peking duck; it was very good!
The Summer Palace
The Sky Temple
Friday 14th April:
It was time to leave. We went to Beijing
airport so as to take the plane for Xi’an at 10:50. Finally we arrived in Xi’an
at 1 pm. We ate at the airport. The fifteen students who speak Chinese went to
their penpals’ families and the other eighteen students went to the hotel of
Xi’an University. Then, for the rest of the day, we relaxed or we traded Euros
against Yuans again. The evening we went outside of the neighbourhood to visit
the narrow authentic streets, where there were food stands, shops, and empty lanes.
View from the plane
In the narrow streets
Saturday 15th April:
In the morning we went to a park near the
business district. We took a ride on the pedal boats, then visited the Giant
Wild Goose Pagoda, where there were a lot of temples, buddhas and monks. After
lunch we went to the Museum, which was about the story of China and also very
interesting but everything was written in English so we didn’t understand
everything.
The lake
The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda
Sunday 16th April:
We went to see the Wild Goose Pagoda but the
small one. We wrote on a paper some wishes and hung them up on a tree for good
luck. Next to the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, there was the Stele Forest, which
was really impressive because the steles were gigantic and massive. A man was
renovating some of the steles. There are more than 3,000 steles in this forest.
In the afternoon we cycled on tandems along a wall. After this excursion, we
saw a Chinese show, with actors, musicians, singers, and dancers. We went once
more to visit the streets at night.
The Small Wild Goose Pagoda
A Stele
In the Stele Forest
Monday 17th April:
In the morning we were welcomed by the big high
school where the pupils learning the language were studying Chinese. We went to
the playground where the headmaster of the high school and all the students
were gathered. The teachers of Massillon gave a speech, and we exchanged gifts
between the two schools. After having eaten a feast of different raviolis at
midday, we went to the Muslim neighbourhood, where there was a souk and a lot
of food. Everything was so cheap and we could negotiate very easily.
In the High School
In the Mosque
In the Muslim neighbourhood
Tuesday 18th April:
This day we went to another town, far away
Xi’An. The teachers brought us there to see the differences between the big
cities and the small villages. They let us walk in the streets, on our own.
This allowed us to discover how people live without the big shops and the
urbanization. We ate the typical food from this small town. In the afternoon,
we went to a museum that was about the Textile Factory of Xi’An. And for
dinner, we ate in a restaurant which was 35m above the ground, so we could see
the people and cars below.
In a small street of the village
A temple in the village
Wednesday 19th April:
After having gone to a shop where we could make
our own miniature terracotta soldier, we went to see the real Terracotta Army:
soldiers, their horses and armours made of mud. Then we returned to our hotel.
It was our last day visiting Xi’An.
Lanterns under trees
The Terracotta Army
Thursday 20th April:
We left the hotel at 7pm and caught our flight
at 1am. The view from the plane was gorgeous. The flight lasted 11 hours. We
arrived in Paris, then took the coach to Massillon. We felt really sad having
to leave China; when we got home, we realized how lucky we were to have been
able to visit this wonderful country.
The tablet of the plane
The view from the plane in the morning
