Studying Anthropology and Archaeology in Beijing

Beijing was my first and last stop (and middle stop) on my 3-week journey through China. This was my second trip to China. This time I traveled as part of an Anthropology and Archaeology College Student delegation organized by the International Scholar Laureate Program. We spent our first 4 days in Beijing before taking a train to Xian. After some time in both Xian and Chengdu we returned to Beijing for 1 day to climb the Great Wall of China before heading off to Tibet. On our way back from Tibet we stayed overnight in Beijing before catching our flight back to the States.

During our time in Beijing I went on a scavenger hunt, attended a Tea Ceremony, watched an Acrobatic Show, saw the Forbidden City, visited the Temple of Heaven, and Climbed the Great Wall of China. It was a fast paced tour and I would have loved to have more time, especially at the Forbidden City, but since I had already seen many of the places during my free time for exploring sites I did get to see some of the less visited parts, such as the Gardens at the Forbidden City. There is still so much I have not seen in Beijing. Another individual trip is needed some day. I would love to see the sites around Tiananmen Square, including fully exploring the Forbidden City and Mao's mausoleum. One of these days...

Quick Tips:

There seemed to be more Western style toilets at tourists sites in Beijing than I remember from 2 years ago. For a Western toilet pop into the handicap stall if there is one. Learning to pop a squat is still a great skill to have for a trip to anywhere in China, but you may be able to get by with very minimal squatting in Beijing. Be sure to have tissue with you at all times, as very few bathrooms have any Western or Eastern.

Best Way To Get Around:

Since I was on a tour we mostly traveled in a tour bus. One afternoon we were left on our own to get where we needed to be (see Beijing Scavenger Hunt entry). We used the subway and found it to be pretty similar to any subway in any other big city. We also used the bus system, which worked well once we had the help of a local that spoke English. As for getting a taxi, we almost got ourselves stuck in the city not even knowing where we were. We later found out that official taxis can only stop at taxi stands, which yes we were only across the street from. I guess we were dumb American tourists that evening.

The Days Hotel Beijing appears to be located in the tourist hotel district of the city. There are several other major hotels in the area. Until I got to my room I did not realize that I was right across the street from where I had stayed 2 years earlier. In fact, when I got home I found that I had taken a picture of the Days Hotel as seen from my 18th floor room of the Best Western. Now I also have a picture of the Best Western taken from the 18th floor of the Days Hotel.

Our room was more than adequate for my roommate and me, although it was the smallest accommodations we had in all of China with the exception of the train sleeper car. There was a television, but I never turned it on to see what English channels it had, probably just CNN or BBC like most of the other hotels we stayed in China. The bathroom contained a scale, which came in handy for making sure our bags were under the China Airlines’ weight limit of 20 kilograms. I liked how they had a toothbrush and mini sized tube of toothpaste provided. The toothpaste can taste yucky, especially if you are expecting mint flavor, as it is unflavored, but it still works.

Each room has its own fridge (with mini bar stuff, of course) and an electric teapot for boiling water to make it safe to drink. You can use the tea provided (for Free!) for a hot drink or cool if you put it in fridge after making it. You can also just boil the water and use it to refill water bottles.

The buffet breakfast is great if you can get a seat. Several of us had to stand and eat in the morning. I suggest going early, as by 8am it is crowded with tourists eating breakfast before their buses leave. They have everything a Western buffet tends to have from pastries, to fruit, and even an omelet bar. They also have a section with oriental items, including several types of noodles, which I really enjoyed.

The Sino-Swiss Hotel is located near the Beijing International Airport. It is far from most Beijing tourist sites, so this was where we stayed the second and third time we were in Beijing, as we were only going to the Great Wall, which is was relatively close to, and the airport.

The hotel has a great buffet breakfast in the western-style restaurant. We all really enjoyed the doughnuts and other pastries they had available.

My favorite thing about this hotel was their pool. They have an indoor and outdoor pool area, which were connected. I went early in the morning on a rainy day and was able to enjoy the indoor pool to myself. The water temperature was similar to the sauna throughout, which was fine for the morning. I assume it is not heated as much later in the day, but I do not know for certain.

The room itself was good size with two beds, a television, fridge, hot pot and tea bags, and a desk. The desk was definitely set up for business people, as it had a holder with several office supplies including pens, pencils, and scissors.

For our tea ceremony we crowded onto benches that were in a small room. At the front of the room was a counter where the three ladies prepared the tea. There were three teas for us to try. Before serving each one they gave a short explanation and passed around some of the leaves for us to smell. Then one of the ladies came around and poured some into our little cups. Below are the teas served and the supposed effects of them.

White Tea: relieves colds, coughs, and sore throats; also said to dispel the effects of alcohol and nicotine

Golden Green Tea/Slimming Tea (Wild Puerh Tea): used to regulate blood pressure, lower cholesterol, lose weight, purify the body by eliminating toxins, eliminate worries; also said to be good for insomnia when honey is added

Oriental Beauty (The Kind of Oolong Tea), a Black Tea: good for blood circulation, skin, and anemia; enrich blood and soften blood vessels; can nourish the stomach when brown sugar is added to the tea

Jasmine Tea: believed to drive away the summer heat and improve eyesight; also can relieve headaches and reduce drowsiness

Litchi Tea (Litchi rolled in Black Tea leaves): good for digestion; also said to get rid of freckles when brewed with rose flowers

I enjoyed the little taste I got of each tea. My favorite was the Litchi, which surprised me, as I usually do not like black tea. At the end of the ceremony they allow you to buy small canisters of the loose teas. The price is kind of high, but it is very good quality. You can also go to the store that is run in the lobby for more variety of tea for a slightly more reasonable price. They have tea in tea bags, as well as edible tea treats and some loose teas. They also have teacups, teapots, and peeing boys. The peeing boys are little clay statues that pee if you immerse them in hot water. They are meant to help you determine if the water is the right temperature for the tea.

Most tourists (Chinese and International) to Beijing visit the historic sites of the times of the Chinese emperors, including the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. The popularity of these sites can be felt when you are stuck in the crowds filing along the Wall. Visiting Peking Man Site is like visiting a small deserted museum and/or National Park in the US. Here I felt like I had found the hidden gem of the Beijing area that so many tourists miss and do not even know about. Few tourists groups have this site on their itineraries. Ours did only because we were an Anthropology and Archaeology student delegation with a specialized itinerary.

We were given a tour of the museum and the archaeological sites on the grounds by one of the curators. I was surprised at the nice walkway up the hill to the museum. Not that it is not Chinese, but one just does not image encountering a nice broad walkway carefully constructed to be found at an archaeological site. It seemed to be a reminder of the old Emperor ways placed at a site much older than the time of the Chinese Emperors by Chinese that lived after the end of the Emperors.

The museum itself was not all that interesting. It did contain many interesting artifacts, but the way of displaying the artifacts was not well thought out. The display causes were just full-length wall glass cases. The artifacts were placed in a somewhat chronological order, but otherwise some of the placing of items seemed kind of random. What really amazed me was the lack of signs in any language (Chinese or English). I expected to at least see many labeling of items in Chinese and explanations in Chinese, but there were not many signs in Chinese. I am glad we had a guide that spoke English to explain the significance of the site and the artifacts.

After the museum we were guided up a trail to the actual sites where the majority of the museum’s artifacts had been excavated. It is hard to describe the feeling you get when standing in the same cave known to be the home of early human beings. The view of the mountainous area surrounding the Peking Man site that you get from here is amazing. Although, that is probably not the reason for the Homo erectus pekinesis chose this place to live, the beauty of the area sure gives me a desire to live in a place with a beautiful natural surrounding.

Going to an Acrobatics show is an event featured on most group travel itineraries to Beijing. This was my second trip to Beijing and both times I saw the Acrobatic show at the Chaoyang Theater, so I assume it is one of the more popular ones for group tours. If you look at the crowd it is apparent that this is a tourist attraction and not a local attraction. The crowd is mostly filled with tourists that are obviously not native Chinese. Most are Japanese and there are also plenty of Americans and Europeans. The best view of the show is from the lower seating area. I sat it there the first time and felt I got a lot better view of the show than I did the second time sitting in the upper balcony area.

The Acrobatic show is filled with different amazing acts. There is the Lion Dance, where two acrobats work together doing stunts in a lion costume. It is amazing to see two lions walking on a ball that is moving around stage. One of the acts is several females doing tricks with Chinese yoyos (those spinning things that are thrown in the air and caught on a string between to handles). I was in awe at their ability to throw the yoyo in the air, do flips, and still manage to catch it before it hit the ground.

My favorite act is when a guy balances on a makeshift sea saw and flips bowls onto his head. He puts the bowls on the edge of the board and slightly jumps on the other end to get the bowl to fly through the air and land on his head. He even flips a spoon into the last bowl.

The Acrobatic show is definitely worth seeing, but I recommend if you have a choice, to see an early evening show or at least not go when you are still adjusting to the time. Both times I went half my group fell asleep during the show, not because it was boring, but because it was dark and they were exhausted. I will admit this being my second time at the same place I almost fell asleep, but I still found it amazing to watch.

As you approach the Forbidden City, it quickly becomes apparent that this is not just any palace. It is an expansive maze of buildings, courtyards, and built for the exclusive use of the Emperor and his family. When I say it is a maze, I really mean it. With the modern conversion of the palace into a tourist site it has become an even bigger maze with the map showing all the corridors, but many of the corridors closed off with no indication on the map that they are. We walked on the side corridors for almost an hour trying to find the gardens marked on the left side of the map (I think they were the Ming Gardens), but never located them. Not sure if we just failed at navigating or if they were behind the closed doors. It certainly made me feel like part of the palace was still forbidden.


We had less than 2 hours to explore the Forbidden City. That is barely enough time to see everything that lies just on the central axis. Even though during this visit some of the buildings were under renovation. It was kind of funny to see the buildings hidden using a barrier that had the building painted on it, as it is supposed to look after renovation. It seemed almost like you were actually looking at the real building and not just a life size picture.

My favorite part of the Forbidden City was the Imperial Gardens, the garden we actually found. Somehow I did not see them my first time I visited 2 years ago. Now it seems impossible that I missed them, so I am thinking I do not remember them the first time because we were rushed even faster through the Forbidden City. The garden is full of plants; including ancient cypress trees, stone mosaic pathways, Chinese style architectural gazebos, and elaborate rock gardens. Walking the somewhat deserted paths of the gardens is where I felt the closest to the place’s history of being the place reserved for only the privileged few. Relax in the peacefulness of the gardens before you exit the Forbidden City and struggle through the mass of street vendors eager to sell their wares to any passing tourist. From my experience in China I found the exit of the Forbidden City the place where the street vendors are to put it nicely most persistent.

One afternoon we were split into groups and dropped off at a subway station with some money, a list of things to find, and a deadline of making it to the English Corner at the People’s University by 7pm. Each group also had a special mission to complete. Ours was supposed to be learning Tai Chi at the Temple of Heaven, but we were told that it was very unlikely anyone was doing Tai Chi there in the afternoon, so we just focused on the list.

We started our adventure by taking the subway on our way to finding Snack Street. We got off at the right station, but ended up walking away from snack street. We did find a Wal-Mart like store. There we found the most important item on our list, luggage locks, which we needed for locking our checked bags for our many flights in China on the Chinese airlines.

After the store we found someone who spoke English and helped us get on the right bus towards snack street. On the bus we found a Chinese student that had studied in America who helped us get off at the right stop. Once off the bus we easily found snack street. There we completed our task of taking three pictures of things we thought were strange. Not much was unique. In the middle of the street was a modern movie theater with several posters for the recent release of Da Vinci Code. Many of the shops carried clothing similar to what you would see in the States. What we found unique was the scorpions and other barbecued bugs on a stick. Before beginning our journey to find funeral money we stopped at the post office and bought stamps to check another thing off our list.

In our attempt to locate funeral money we asked several Chinese. They all seemed to be offended that we were asking. It seems to be a taboo subject, especially for foreigners to speak of. I cannot believe our Chinese guides misinformed us and sent us out on a mission that caused us to insult several people. We quickly gave up on this part of the list.

Due to time limits we ended up having to substitute plastic magnetic health balls for metal health balls. We had to entirely give up on finding paper cuts and a kite, but we easily found an item with Chairman Mao on it (a watch that soon stopped working).

Our last task was to find our way to People’s University. After almost an hour trying to get a taxi we had to call our local guide for help. We were unable to properly pronounce the street we were on, so we had to get a Chinese to tell our guide. Our guide then had the guy get us a taxi. We eventually made it to the English Corner half an hour late, but we got screwed on having dinner.