Heading to Tianjin
We woke up early yesterday morning and loaded all our luggage, instruments and souvenirs on the bus. Before leaving Beijing, we hit one more historical tourist stop, the Summer Palace. After eating lunch at the Summer Palace, we loaded back on to the buses and headed toward Tianjin. It was about a three hour drive.
Our first stop in Tianjin was at the Tianjin Youth Center. As we entered the building, a small group of band students were playing for us. Kids and Adults attend this center after school and on weekends to take various types of classes from martial arts, woodworking, arts & crafts, music and English. We were taken on a tour of the center. We also had a cultural exchange with some students of the center that ranged in age from 4-11. We were treated to a short program during the cultural exchange. We got to listen to a small orchestra of about 12 students play. They were young and played beautifully. Then, several of the students entertained us by showing off their English skills by singing and reciting poems and stories in English. Crystal Phloman played her violin and organized our students and the youth center kids into some fun dancing. Before leaving, our students gave their new friends some small tokens.
After making new friends at the Tianjin Youth Center, we checked into the Aster Hotel. Little did we know that the hotel we would be staying at would have an incredible history. The hotel was originally established in 1863. In the early 1900’s, an elevator was added. This elevator was the first one in all of China. The elevator still exists next to the new elevator. It is no longer used but the kids really enjoyed looking at it. The hotel has two wings. One is the older original section and the newer section. I got unlucky and am staying in the new part. I would have enjoyed staying in the older section. However, a few students said that they were unlucky because they have to stay in the old section because they thought the old section had ghosts. My daughter, Casey, said that it was fun walking around in the hallways of the old section because it was like being in an old movie. The hotel is like a museum. It has signs along every wall and floor giving the history of the hotel and all the very important people who have stayed at the hotel. There is even a stairway that leads to the roof. Don’t worry moms…the kids can’t get on the roof. There is another stairway that is very dark that leads to a locked door that goes who knows where. Some of the kids were afraid to go up the stairs so I went for them. I named the stairway the crooked, creepy stairs because it is kind of creepy because it is dark and crooked because the stairs get slightly more crooked as you walk up them. I haven’t seen it yet, but the kids have said that Mrs. Jezek got a room with a cool balcony.
Today, we will visit a museum and then play our final concert in the evening. I will not be able to post any more pictures because the internet service at this hotel is so slow that it would take hours to upload my pictures. I will load them as soon as I get home.
Our first stop in Tianjin was at the Tianjin Youth Center. As we entered the building, a small group of band students were playing for us. Kids and Adults attend this center after school and on weekends to take various types of classes from martial arts, woodworking, arts & crafts, music and English. We were taken on a tour of the center. We also had a cultural exchange with some students of the center that ranged in age from 4-11. We were treated to a short program during the cultural exchange. We got to listen to a small orchestra of about 12 students play. They were young and played beautifully. Then, several of the students entertained us by showing off their English skills by singing and reciting poems and stories in English. Crystal Phloman played her violin and organized our students and the youth center kids into some fun dancing. Before leaving, our students gave their new friends some small tokens.
After making new friends at the Tianjin Youth Center, we checked into the Aster Hotel. Little did we know that the hotel we would be staying at would have an incredible history. The hotel was originally established in 1863. In the early 1900’s, an elevator was added. This elevator was the first one in all of China. The elevator still exists next to the new elevator. It is no longer used but the kids really enjoyed looking at it. The hotel has two wings. One is the older original section and the newer section. I got unlucky and am staying in the new part. I would have enjoyed staying in the older section. However, a few students said that they were unlucky because they have to stay in the old section because they thought the old section had ghosts. My daughter, Casey, said that it was fun walking around in the hallways of the old section because it was like being in an old movie. The hotel is like a museum. It has signs along every wall and floor giving the history of the hotel and all the very important people who have stayed at the hotel. There is even a stairway that leads to the roof. Don’t worry moms…the kids can’t get on the roof. There is another stairway that is very dark that leads to a locked door that goes who knows where. Some of the kids were afraid to go up the stairs so I went for them. I named the stairway the crooked, creepy stairs because it is kind of creepy because it is dark and crooked because the stairs get slightly more crooked as you walk up them. I haven’t seen it yet, but the kids have said that Mrs. Jezek got a room with a cool balcony.
Today, we will visit a museum and then play our final concert in the evening. I will not be able to post any more pictures because the internet service at this hotel is so slow that it would take hours to upload my pictures. I will load them as soon as I get home.
posted by C. Carswell | 1:46 AM
1 Comments:
I actually liked Tianjin better than Beijing. Beijing had too many cars, and the pollution was HORRIBLE. I took a picture of the sun, and it was being covered by smog.
But in Tianjin, the sky was clearer, and it was more peaceful.
I guess it was like the suburbs...like Sugar Land.
The youth center was nice, too. The kids seemed to really enjoy Crystal's performance and the square dancing. :-D
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