Beijing and the Great Wall, November 2014

In November we traveled with another BYU couple to Beijing, a city with a population over 21,000,000. Beijing means northern capitol, and Nanjing, the city where we live, means southern capitol. Beijing has been the capitol since 1949. Before that Beijing and Nanjing each served as capitol at different times.

 We traveled to Beijing by train. It is about a four hour train ride. We reached speeds close to 200 miles per hour. When we arrived in Beijing we took a subway to our hotel. Beijing has a great subway system. A subway ride is a flat fee of about 35 cents no matter how far the destination is. In Nanjing we pay according to how far we travel and the rides are more expensive. The train was a comfortable and punctual. If you are not early to catch your train, you are late.

We stayed at a hotel in Beijing that had been converted from a residence. This is the inner courtyard. Our hotel was not easy to find. It was about a third of a mile down an alley that we could only travel by foot. There are many, many modern hotels in Beijing, but we opted to stay in a more historic location.

Inside our room. 

We found a hot pot restaurant within walking distance of our hotel. This was an old style hot pot place in that the pot was kept hot with burning charcoal. Most hot pot restaurants now have gas burners or electric burners to heat the hot pot. The hot pot is in the center of the table. The burning charcoal keeps the broth surrounding it boiling. Food is delivered raw and then cooked in the boiling broth. In front of me is a small bowl of sauce to dip the cooked food in. Food includes raw vegetables and very thinly sliced beef, pork, and lamb. I have also had eel at a hot pot meal. I found it is best to cook eel in a very hot and spicy broth, so hot and spicy you forget what you are eating. 

 We are at Tienanmen Square, a huge place. While there we visited Chairman Mao's Mausoleum which is only open in the morning. There are long lines to see Chm. Mao, and many Chinese bring flowers to leave.  

This is in front of the entrance to the Forbidden City, where  many emperors lived. 

 We have enjoyed eating at noodle shops. The noodles are made fresh. It is fascinating to see how the noodles are made. After the ingredients are mixed together, the stretching process begins. At the beginning, the dough is a big glob. It is then stretched and divided by stretching it over and over again until the dough becomes the size of noodles and is then put in boiling water. All of this is done rapidly without ever cutting the noodles. The end result on this day was a large bowl of noodles in beef broth that was very good and all I could eat for a cost of about $2.

 This is a night scene. We were fortunate to be in Beijing when we were. About a week before we arrived Beijing hosted an international conference and took action to diminish the air pollution. When we arrived the air pollution was still much lower than normal.

The National Museum is near Tienanmen Square. We only had to show our passports to be admitted. There was no charge. This display was part of a special Silk Road exhibit. President Xi is emphasizing China's history which includes the Silk Road. He has announced goals to once again establish an overland Silk Road trade route and a maritime Silk Road trading route. In November a freight train left a city near Shanghai for a 20 day trip to Spain. China has also recently announced it will upgrade the railroad systems in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. These will be connected with China for improved trade routes, and eventually connected to Singapore.     

 The Forbidden City, the residence of many emperors, is massive. You think you have seen it all when another huge area appears on the other side of a gate. According to what I have read, there are over 900 building on over 180 acres.

More of the Forbidden City

One of the very interesting exhibits at the National Museum was a display of gifts given to China by other countries. As I recall, this gift was given by the United States.

 The Chinese flag at Tienanmen Square  is lowered at 5 PM. Many people come to see this ceremony which is done with much military formality.

 The Peking Duck is wonderful. There are many restaurants in Beijing that offer Peking Duck. We went to a restaurant near Tienanmen Square. Henry Kissinger and President Carter ate here and their pictures are on the restaurant's wall of fame. The duck was carved near our table. It is eaten in thin wraps with onions, cucumber, pineapple and a plum sauce. The duck is cooked so that the skin is crispy.  

Direct advertising makes the Peking Duck restaurant easy to find.

 For me the highlight of our trip was the Great Wall. It is a wonder of the world! The part we saw is in a mountainous area. The Wall is wide, tall and long. Carrying the materials to the point of construction and completing the Wall without modern construction equipment is hard to fathom.

 It is steep! Pictures cannot capture how steep the Wall is in some places. At this point the Wall is going down at a very steep descent. The Wall follows the terrain which at times means going up/down a steep mountain.

From a distance - but again its magnitude cannot be captured.

 An intrepid traveling encouraging a more timid traveler to continue on the treacherous path.

I am not letting go of the handrail, even for a picture.

A great trip to Beijing comes to an end.

An Academic Conference in Chengdu, October, 2014

In October, 2014, I attended an academic conference sponsored by the Law School at the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in Chengdu, China.

Those invited to participate were foreign law professors teaching at Chinese law schools and Chinese law professors at the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics. The topic was whether more interdisciplinary courses would benefit Chinese law students.

In China, law students begin their study of law their first year at the university. After students obtain a four year degree, many then take the Chinese bar exam and begin their work. Also, many students go on to earn graduate degrees in law before starting work. What is missing for many law students is the study of subjects other than law. In America, interdisciplinary studies for law students come naturally because students earn an undergraduate degree before attending three years of law school, and the undergraduate degree is not in law.

My presentation was on the benefit of a common law course as part of a civil law curriculum. From what I have been told, the Chinese legal system is probably most closely aligned with the German civil law system. The American common law system is an adversarial system that relies on decided cases for precedent. The Chinese legal system places much less emphasis on the skill of persuasion and its law is codified.

The conference was fascinating. The discussions were open and included constructive criticisms and recommended changes.

The attendees were treated to exceptional local cuisine and tours of nearby world-renown sites. The day after the conference we visited the Dujiangyan irrigation project, a project competed more than 2,000 years ago and still in operation, and Mount Qingcheng, one of the most important centers for Taoism or Daoism in China.

What follows includes descriptions of Chengdu and the sites we visited as well as pictures.

Chengdu is in Sichuan Province near the center of China.  The following is from Wikipedia.

Chengdu is one of the most important economic, transportation, and communication centers in Western China. Chengdu Railway Station is one of the six biggest train stations in China, while Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport is one of the 50 busiest airports in the world.

The Dujiangyan Irrigation System (58 km (36 mi) away from Chengdu proper) is the oldest existing irrigation project in the world with a history of over 2000 years diverting water without a dam to distribute water and filter sand with an inflow-quantity control. The irrigation system contains floods and droughts throughout the Plain of Chengdu.

[The] Irrigation System consists of three main constructions that work in harmony with one another to ensure against flooding and keep the fields well supplied with water:

The Yuzui or Fish Mouth Levee, named for its conical head that is said to resemble the mouth of a fish, is the key part of Li Bing’s construction. It is an artificial levee that divides the water into inner and outer streams. The inner stream is deep and narrow, while the outer stream is relatively shallow but wide. This special structure ensures that the inner stream carries approximately 60% of the river’s flow into the irrigation system during dry season. While during flood, this amount decreases to 40% to protect the people from flooding. The outer stream drains away the rest, flushing out much of the silt and sediment.

The Feishayan or Flying Sand Weir has a 200 m-wide opening that connects the inner and outer streams. This ensures against flooding by allowing the natural swirling flow of the water to drain out excess water from the inner to the outer stream. The swirl also drains out silt and sediment that failed to go into the outer stream. A modern reinforced concrete weir has replaced Li Bing’s original weighted bamboo baskets.

The Baopingkou or Bottle-Neck Channel, which Li Bing gouged through the mountain, is the final part of the system. The channel distributes the water to the farmlands to the west, whilst the narrow entrance, that gives it its name, works as a check gate, creating the whirlpool flow that carries away the excess water over Flying Sand Fence, to ensure against flooding.

  After the system was finished, no more floods occurred. The irrigation made Sichuan the most productive agricultural place in China. On the east side of Dujiangyan, people built a shrine in remembrance of Li Bing.

Li Bing’s construction is also credited with giving the people of the region a laid-back attitude to life; by eliminating disaster and ensuring a regular and bountiful harvest, it has left them with plenty of free time.

Mount Qingcheng  is a mountain in Dujiangyan, Sichuan, China. It is amongst the most important centres of Taoism (Daoism) in China. In Taoist mythology, it was the site of the Yellow Emperor's studies with Ning Fengzhi. As a centre of the Daoist religion it became host to many temples. The mountain has 36 peaks.

Taoism (or Daoism) is a philosophical, ethical, and religious tradition of Chinese origin that emphasizes living in harmony with theTao (also romanized as Dao). The term Tao means "way", "path" or "principle", and can also be found in Chinese philosophies and religions other than Taoism. In Taoism, however, Tao denotes something that is both the source and the force behind everything that exists.

Taoist propriety and ethics may vary depending on the particular school, but in general they tend to emphasize wu-wei (action through non-action), "naturalness", simplicity, spontaneity, and the Three Treasures: compassion, moderation, and humility.

This was the room where the conference was held. There were some local law students who listened to some of the presentations. A highlight for me was to speak with the law students during breaks and learn their reactions to the presentations. 

These are just of few of the many dishes served at this meal. Typically, in China many dishes are served family style in a variety of seemingly never-ending delicious courses. Our beverage was fresh watermelon juice that was superb.

This is a Taoist shrine on Mount Qingchun.

Also on Mount Qingchun.

More wonderful food.

Part of the Dujiangyan irrigation project.

Our guide explaining how the Dujiangyan irrigation project works.