Day 14 Yonghe Temple, a Vegetarian Restaurant and Tea

 Today some of us visited the largest and best-preserved lamasery in Beijing, the colours, the incense, the atmosphere are all very special and make this a busy yet calm space in Beijing consisting of the Hall of Everlasting Blessings, Hall of the Dharma Wheel and the  Pavilion of Infinite Happiness. To round the day off we also ate at a vegetarian buffet restaurant with tofu meat in all shapes, colours, flavours and textures, everyone was pleasantly surprised until the meat ball in grass juice appeared!

The entrance gate to the Lama Temple

 Inside the temple

some details

three incense are light

Tea is served: A few people went on to enjoy tea

Tucking in at the Buddhist vegetarian restaurant to round the day off

no-one could quite come to terms wit the vegetarian meat ball in grass!

Day 15 The Raising of the flag in Tiananmen Square

A Couple of us set our alarms for 5.30am and went to Tiananmen Square to watch the rising of the flag

For some silly reason because it was super early in the morning we just thought there wouldn't b tat many people there......silly

It was hazy at this early hour and so many people

 

the traffic is stopped and in front of the Chairman Mao image and the gates to the Forbidden City everyone is getting ready

Then it begins

and a little more

and a little more

and a little more

and a little more

and a little more

and there is almost is.....

Day 11: We walked the Great Wall of China!

We woke up on day eleven knowing we were in for a long day. We started off the morning with a trip to the Great Wall in Badaling. After reaching our goal peaks in the scorching heat, we made a very frightening descend, realizing how high up we really were. We ate a well deserved lunch and headed off to the Ming Tombs, where China's finest Emperor's are laid to rest with their most prized possessions. The tombs wre dark and dreary but a cool break from the rising temperatures outside. Once we saw all we could see there, we moved on to our final destination at the Ming Tombs avenue. Where large stone creatures line the walkway to the tombs, protecting the past Emperors in the afterlife. The day was a great break from the hustle bustle of the busy city, but by the end of the night we were all ready for our beds. -Elaine & Meghan

All of us ready to climb The Great Wall of China.

Todays' goal peak!

Finally made it to the top!








































The group who made it to the eighth tower.

Day 9 & 10 Visits to artists' studios and project work.

Day 9 and 10 were spent further developing our work for the exhibition. To help and inspire us we visited some local designers in their studio to see how they worked.

Mr Xiao Yong was kind enough to show us round his studio and show us his some of his work past and present. Mr Yong was the designer of the Olympic medals for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

After the visit to Mr Yong we popped round the corner to lemonista studios where Mr Feng Yan the CEO of lemonista and tutor at CAFA showed us around.

Mr Yan demonstrated some of the many apps that the company designs, from the beginning conception, to the illustration, animation, programming and product testing, it all happens under one roof.

Then it was back to the studio for some project development.

Paulina's work is coming along nicely.

The exhibition is beginning to take shape.




Elaine 

Day 8: Lost in the Forbidden City

Lying in the heart of the Beijing, the Forbidden City is it's finest monument. The central halls with their wealth of imperial pomp, may be the most magnificent buildings, but only the side rooms, with their display of the more intimate accouterments of court life can bring you back in centuries and make you feel the real energy of the time.

It was forbidden to enter the city without the permission of the emperor. However in the 21st century anyone can enjoy the beauty of the halls.

In order to learn bits of history of the Forbidden City, we got electronic guides. However we all met unaccepted technical problems but luckily we managed to deal with this issues.

Almost every colour and image in the palace is richly symbolic. Yellow was an imperial colour. Purple symbolized joy.

The sign of the emperor was the dragon. You can see it on almost every building. The numbers 9 & 5 can be found all over the complex. 9 represents luck and associates with male energy while 5 - harmony and balance.

The Emperor's gardens; The place that everyone enjoyed. The green trees and nice shaped rocks made a lovely combination.

At the end of our day we met a cool Chinese boy - Sam. He spoke awesome English and was very friendly. We all had a lovely chat with him, and hope to see him in England one day...






Paulina and Karyna xx