Today it is saturday the 8th of september, we are still in the airplane above Russia on our way to China while it is the birthday of both Roelof and Robert. The sky turned dark quickly while everybody tried to catch some sleep. This proved to be very difficult and only a few managed to get some good shuteye. After a few hours, the sunlight appeared through the windows of the airplane and we got served with some breakfast. After the landing some people decided to sing a birthday song.
Before we travelled to China we were warned that very tall western people are really popular attraction in China and a lot of people want to get a picture of them. When we traveled to the hostel from the airport the first SPOCK particaipants were already subject to Chinese people who want to get a picture with them. This is the first time but certainly not the last time that we are subjected to this kind of attention.
We arrive at our final station after a few transfers. The station is situated near the Tianmen Square, also known as the Square of the Heavenly Peace. Our hostel is just a few blocks away and has a view on the square.
Once arrived at the hostel, it turns out that we cannot check in since it is still before twelve o' clock. Luckily our group 'Awesome' was awesome enough to provide their room to stash all our luggage.
Then the group gathered in the lobby to find a good place to brunch. We arrived in a street with all sorts of small shops. A part of the group went into a small side street with many flashing advertising lights. From here out a lot of restaurants were visited, where for many their first "authenthic" Chinese meal was eaten. The dishes were chosen by pointing to pictures, because the menu card did not have an English translation. Just a few moments later, another group, which took a detour, arrived at a restaurant at the opposite side of the street. We decided to take a look at the square of Heavenly Peace and to make a photo for the university.
And so, 24 students and one supervisors equipped with a Ufonds flag were heading towards the square to make a photo in front of the Forbidden City. Chairman Mao would be watching contently and the trip would become a success. While we were making some nice photos and doing "de Woutel", we were photographed by a lot of Chinese people. Also we had to take some more pictures with them. This continued for a while, until a man in panic came to us with the police, because we were forbidden to make pictures of our flag together with Mao on the background.
After this hectic circus we went to the Forbidden City where we absorbed more must see culture. Again a lot of the participants had to take a picture with some Chinese people, during our stay in the Forbidden City. Especially Bart was very popular among the Chinese, because of his height of 2.04 meters.
After a long stroll we could see a temple on top of a hill behind the Forbidden City. The most of us had seen enough of the Forbidden City after three to four hours and would like to attemp the climb. Once arrived it turned out that a huge Buddha statue of eight meters was in the temple. It also gave a fantastic view over the entire city and to our surprise we were situated exactly in the center of Beijing. After a short rest we went back to the hostel.
We checked in, divided the rooms, took a quick look in the rooms and ate some diner at the restaurant next to our hostel. We ordered all sorts of dishes and the Peking duck was in particular very tasty. This one could be checked of our food bingo list.
Because the diner took quite some time, we had to hurry to the Olympic Park. Unfortunately, everyone would only have about 15 minutes to enjoy the Olympic Stadium, the Olympic Swimming Pool and the many people with stands and kites. Mickey Mouse also made a lasting impression when he was totally stressed out when photos were made from him when some Spock people did "de Woutel" look in front of him.
During our trip back to the hostel we lost one of our participants. We lost Freek in the Olympic Park and after looking, waiting and calling for a while, everyone went back to the sub. Eventually everyone, including Freek even though a few moments later, arrived safe and sound in their bed.
Eric Portema