Campus Blogs

Day 5 of the China adventure started after breakfast. The team left the hotel around 8am to take the subway to the panda breeding research center in Chang du. Outside our hotel on the way to the subway, there is a giant panda hanging from the International Finance Building. After two trains and one very packed bus ride the team was finally at their destination and everyone was excited to see the pandas. The research center was built as a nice themed park with different directions both in mandarin and English to help all visitors. The team had the chance to take pictures and have a glimpse of what a life in giant pandas, baby pandas, and red pandas look like. Which seems like a pretty good life. Pandas try to move less and eat more. They prefer the cold and they hate the heat. Most of the adult pandas were alone because they are solitary. They try to live in a hidden, remote areas and they are nick named “bamboo recluse”. Besides the adorable pandas, the park also had peacocks and a beautiful lake view.
Lunch was a Sichuan style, lots of spicy dishes and lots of yummy noises.
In the evening we went to see Sichuan Opera. We had our assigned seats. They served us some jasmine tea and the show was lit. There were a total of 10acts at least. It wasn’t a typical opera, there were different talents and routines that kept the audience entertained. Early morning panda hangouts, big lunch, and then an entertaining night of opera was a great way to end our day in Cheng du. Tomorrow we head on to connect with some university students. Stay tuned!

This morning we toured the grounds of the Summer Palace in northeast Beijing. It was built during the Qing Dynasty and sits on a hill overlooking about one square mile, most of which is a lake. Some of us experienced a traditional tea room, while others of us took a boat across the lake, and I climbed the hill to see the view from the palace. In the afternoon we left Beijing for our next stop, Chengdu. We got to experience Chinese high speed rail and see some of the Chinese interior along the way.

Hi Everyone! Today the big event was “walking” the Great Wall of China. We woke up at about 6:30am, ate some delicious hotel breakfast (I got pork buns which is my new favorite thing), and loaded everyone onto the bus. We drove about 2 hours into a beautiful mountainous region. Despite my assumptions, the wall is not right next to the city. It snakes through the mountains, emphasizing the natural border of the mountains (which makes a lot more sense now that I think about it).

You may have noticed earlier I used the word walk with quotation marks around it. In my mind, the great wall was going to have a nice, even pavement with some minor dips and hills. I was very, very wrong. Since it is practically one with the mountains, it is littered with steep climbs and thousands of very uneven stairs. It is not a walk; it is a climb. However, the views were definitely worth the discomfort! The wall does not disappoint!

Afterwards we drove back and ate at a delicious Chinese restaurant. The pinnacle of the meal was Peking Duck, a dish native to Beijing. It was served with other toppings and wrapped up in a very thin “Beijing Tortilla.” This caused the creation of “duck man” (aka Toby) after Toby, Josh, Loren, and myself (Megan) all ate part of the brain. His powers include swimming and a strong craving for bread. It is only day 3 and most of us have already been able to fully adjust to the time zone which is great. Please continue to pray for our stomachs as we try more and more new foods!

This is Kelsey. Today (June 1st in China) we took the subway and bus to make our way to various Beijing destinations. There is no such thing as personal space and the rule of the game is shove or be shoved! We visited the Temple of Heaven first. All buildings are focused on cosmology and fung shui. Everything in Chinese culture is focused on being harmonious-> food, nature, health, etc. has everything to do with the natural world. The goal is to align with heaven. Taichi was somewhat of a martial art meditation movement happening throughout the park there. They try to derive good chi, chi = energy and life force. There also was the Echo Hall which is circular and if you whisper at the wall the sound travels all the way around. Beijing means north capital and was built by the second emperor of the Ming dynasty. The Temple of Heaven and Forbidden city palace was also built by him. The Temple of Heaven was for good harvest for the country which was the emperor’s job. Rituals and ceremonies were performed and must be followed exactly. Heaven is round and blue and earth is square. The Hall of Prayer for good harvest is the architecturally most famous in all of China.

We also got to see Tiananmen Square where protests are able and have taken place at in the past. It was interesting to note the level of security and cameras there. They are always watching you! The Forbidden City Palace was the place the emperor stayed when the capital was moved to Beijing. Overall a very historical enriching day, and very hot! Popsicles and water were a great go to! Onto the Great Wall tomorrow!

We made it! A mere 36 hours of travel from FPU to the Hanting Express Hotel near downtown Beijing! Flights were all smooth and we got to experience a small taste of Japanese food and culture in the Tokyo airport on the 4 hour layover on the way Beijing. No travel problems at all. Myrrl and Ruthie Byler from Mennonite Partners in China and Hung Tao, their assistant, were there to welcome us at the Beijing airport, an enormous affair that stretches for mile after mile. A mere hour bus ride later and we were at the hotel. After freshening up we went for a 3 hour walk in and about some of the remaining 'old quarters' of downtown Beijing that have not given way to the high rises apartments and skyscrapers of the modern city. Climbed a crazy number of large steps to make it to the top of the bell tower where we had a great view of the area. We had a great Chinese dinner to end the last day and then we all went too snoozy land. Well, not everyone, but some of us were tired....

China and Vietnam, here we come! We are fourteen FPU students and four faculty ready to embark on a six week, 25,000 mile adventure through some of the most scenic, historic, rugged, and absolutely incredible lands on God's good earth. Open up the blog and then on this map link to see where we are headed and when we will be there. We'll travel by plane, train, boat, bus, taxi, and perhaps a tuk tuk or two. Come with us and enjoy!

The Fresno Pacific Alumni and Friends tour to Italy is just six weeks away.  We are going to a couple of special places.  First, we will take a side trip to Siena, a World Heritage Site. You can find out more about it at what has become a standby for getting oriented to a region or city in Italy, Italy Guides. 

It is said that you get a sense of both the medieval (on the outside of buildings) and the Renaissance (on the inside). On the Piazza del Campo, the main plaza, a horse race has been held every summer in since the middle ages. 

One place to visit is the birthplace of St. Catherine of Siena, a reformer and “Doctor” or official teacher of the Catholic Church, who convinced the pope to return the papal office from Avignon in France to Rome.  Christian History Magazine has a couple of articles about Catherine which are interesting and brief. 

Another, well known feature is the Palazzo Publico, the Town Hall, that dates to the fourteenth century. Inside is a series of paintings, The Allegory of Good and Bad Government.  Siena, like many of the cities of Italy, was a republic.  The Allegory illustrates graphically the justice and flourishing that were the goals of the city, and the opposite.

On our travel from Florence to Rome, we will stop for a pilgrimage visit to the Umbrian town of Assisi, the home (Italy Guides again) of St. Francis.  Here we will have the chance to see the Basilicas of St. Francis and of St. Clare.  We will also see the Church of San Damiano, where Francis experienced his conversion to follow Christ.

St. Francis is one of the saints recognized by the Church worldwide. He was called even in his time, a second Christ because he seemed to follow Christ fully. Christian History magazine has a whole issue dedicated to St. Francis.And if you want more, there is a very good and beautifully illustrated little volume on him by Mark Galli, St. Francis of Assisi and His World which is available very cheaply—well worth it. 

Travel in itself can be something like a pilgrimage. Siena and Assisi are two cities where we just might experience hope and renewal, where we might be lifted out of the ordinary and our cynical world to something more profound.

Where to begin?  There is so much to see, and so much that happened, so many famous and notorious events and people that happened and lived in Florence that we will only see some little parts of it in our three days this June on the FPU Alumni and Friends Tour.

So here are some things to dream about.  Let’s start as we did with Venice with Italy Guides, Florence.  But you might also want to look at a couple of video’s that explain something about how to get about, and some of the most popular places—current, historical, artistic:  Vidtur's brief video and The Roman Guy’s Florence in a Day.  And here is a little summary piece on the history of the city. These will tell a bit about the general past, major exhibits, the most famous artists, the markets, the piazzas and bridges, and cathedral. 

But how about some of the other things to see. The Duomo, or Cathedral was a major architectural and engineering achievement in the 14^th century. It was begun in the 1290’s and not finished until the 1460s—the records of the project and its organizing and supervising committee are still in existence. You can find a “Smart History” video on Filippo Brunelleschi and his Dome, and if you are ambitious there is a popular book by Ross King, Brunelleschi’s Dome (Penguin, 2000). (Thanks to my brother-in-law, Bob Worcester, for recommending it.) Brunelleschi was awarded the commission to build the dome through a competition which he one over the more famous and experienced artist at the time Lorenzo Ghiberti. Ghiberti won the earlier competition to design what became the bronze doors of the Baptistry nearby.

Everyone has heard of Machiavelli—notorious writer of The Prince. He wrote much more, some insightful and analytical, some fanciful (despite his seeming practicality), and all focused on maintaining power in a hard political world. Here is an interesting BBC piece take on where Machiavelli worked. 

At the opposite of end of the spiritual climate from Machiavelli is Dante. Florence was his home, before he was banished, and he always looked back to it.  Here is something on Dante in art—see the reflections of Florence in the first painting. And you might want to visit the Dante Museum (I’m going to!) which has exhibits about his life, Florence around 1300, and The Divine Comedy, the story of his spiritual pilgrimage through Hell, Purgatory and up through Heaven to the vision of God.

An eccentric figure, not as well known now has he once was, is the Dominican prophet and preacher, Girolamo Savonarola. Savonarola was a moralist and political reformer and revolutionary who roused the populace and then alienated them. Another Dominican is a favorite of mine, Fra Angelico, a couple of generations earlier than Savonarola, whose paintings are quietly inspiring. You might want to visit the Convent of San Marco, to see his The Annunciation.

And here is one last piece on Michelangelo’s Medici Chapel. We can’t end without having gone back to one of the classic sites. But we must end somewhere, and we will only have a few days. There’s more than enough for a second trip to Florence!