Destination: 北京

This Easter was without a doubt an Easter that I will not soon forget. I had the blessing of celebrating Jesus' death and resurrection with my dad in Hong Kong and Beijing. He arrived in Hong Kong on Good Friday and we went to worship our awesome God together in the 75th floor of Central Plaza on Hong Kong Island. This is where Hong Kong City Church meets each Sunday for it's worship service, but they happened to have a special Good Friday service which worked out perfect because Easter Sunday Dad and I would be flying to Beijing for my Easter break.

Wow, where do I start? Well, how about the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square? Here's some pictures of our walk “逛一逛” around this very historical place. By the way, these pics do not show you how ridiculously ginormous the Forbidden City really is. There is no way the Emperor had time to check out all of his crib!






After a nice stroll through the Forbidden City, we began to be curious about all of the billions of corridors we were passing. Ashamed for passing up so many, yet hurried because of our appointment with Elizabeth in a couple hours, we decided to check out an art gallery at one of the eastern hallways. Choi Choi, my Chinese Art Studio professor (who by the way is the epitome of traditional Chinese heritage still alive today...with his long white hair and 100 years of age and spontaneous behavior just like Laozi would propose in his Taoist book Daodejing) would be extremely proud of me for the studying I was doing of ancient Chinese artifacts. Very interesting to see and I wish I had more time to read and learn all the gory details of each artwork.




As we approached the northern gate of the Forbidden City, we were able to enjoy the serene Imperial Garden for a little while before meeting Elizabeth back at the southern gate of Tiananmen Square. Here dad and I really felt warm and fuzzy because of all of the beautiful ancient trees throughout this part. What we had seen before was nothing but a bare, vast concrete city. But now this area had been specially preserved and was much more lively. It seemed that we saw people from all over the world gathering in this garden and the atmosphere was splendid!






After a long morning in the Forbidden City, we met up with Elizabeth. Being an encouragement for her was such a blessing and we had productive conversations as we stopped by Starbucks and then journeyed to Summer Palace. Although Elizabeth has been to Beijing quite a few times, she has yet to see the Summer Palace. So it was a perfect way to spend the day together! Although this wasn't the prettiest time of year, this park is just as big as the Forbidden City and much more beautiful.






After Summer Palace, we headed over to Beijing University before dark. Walking the streets of this very prestigious university where very very few are accepted gave me a cool vibe. I've been strongly considering going there for grad school and so being able to get a sneak preview with my dad and Elizabeth was pretty neat. Can you tell how geeked out I am about possibly studying Chinese language and culture here?


Now onto day 3, where dad and I began our endeavor to the Great Wall. This was our dream and it was about to come true! I could hardly believe that we were actually headed to hike it together and everything felt so surreal. When that sunset and dad and I were gazing out onto the wondrous maze of a wall dating back to 7th Century BC, I knew I had to snap out of the dream and soak up every second. That we did. Dad and I had probably the best conversation I've ever had with him in my life and I can see how we are now becoming best friends. Dad, I know you'll never forget conquering Simatai Great Wall with me, nor will you or I forgot those annoying villagers following us so we could be their stinking book! I highly suggest that everyone go and see this historical site before you die - it's crazy to think that it is still standing after all of these years.