So after the Great Wall we took off to the Ming Tombs! About 50km north of Beijing, it once housed the bodies of the 13 emperors from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The Ming Dynasty was the second to the last dynasty, before the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Anyways, it was pretty neat to see. It was very serene and fengshui. The tombs were underground with many different chambers. One of the most unbelievable things was that the emperors were buried with their concubines...who were still ALIVE! Ah! That must have been horrible. And the sheer amount of wealth that each emperor had was crazy too! chests and chests full of jewelry! It was just amazing how massive the tombs' architecture was. Then, we rode a short distance to an old thoroughfare with an expanse of magnificently carved animals. There were elephants, camels, lions, and other exotic animals. I was surprised that the Chinese knew of such animals that long ago, but I guess with the silk trade these animals were probably more common. Another idea I had was that maybe animal populations were more spread out hundreds of years ago because of the climate and that there were less people that could interfere with their natural habitat. In any case, the statues were really beautiful and very well preserved. Although it was really cold outside, it was cool to see such a historical Chinese landmark.
Later that night we went to go see the most EPIC Kungfu show I have ever seen! It was known as the "Legend of Kung Fu." The story chronicled the life of the great gong fu master known as Chun Yi. Words can't really describe the show. If you ever come to Beijing, this show is definitely worth seeing! We saw kung fu artists do back flips and land on their heads instead of their hands. They broke metal bars in half using their heads. We even saw a guy emerge from a bed of knives unharmed with heavy stones and ma board of nails placed on top of him. We saw one kung fu master place all his body weight onto a single tip of a spear by focusing all of his inner Qi on that point. It was crazy. Overall, it was a pretty epic day! I definitely slept well! :D
Today's word of the day is: Subway- 地铁 di tie (dee tee-uh)
Until next time!
~Sarah Swetz
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