Saturday, 23.03.2013

Once we had our first night in Beijing we took off for a sightseeing day. The first stop was at the temple of Heaven. Lili, our tour guide, took us to a large green park where we saw the local people playing cards, singing together and having their Thai Chi session in this early and very cold morning.

After visiting this peaceful area, we moved over to a busy shopping centre were some of the delegation members made their first experiences in bargaining with Chinese business people.

For lunch we went to a traditional Chinese restaurant where they served various Chinese dishes. That gave us the opportunity to power up before going back to the chilly outside. We started our afternoon tour at the Tiananmen square. We were impressed by the size of one of the biggest squares in the world. We saw thousands of people on the square and felt as individual quit small – which was impressive!

After crossing the Tiananmen square we entered the area of forbidden city. Lili led us comprehensively through the cluster of these ancient buildings. People were astonished by the 800 buildings and their 9999 rooms in it. Before going for dinner, we finished our sightseeing tour by climbing to the top of the peak of Jingshan park for a breathtaking view over Beijing.

Sunday, 24.03.2013

Sunday was basically a free day. Some of the delegation decided to visit the Lama Temple. Again Lili welcomed them at the entrance where they learned more about the different religions in China and the meaning of this temple. In the afternoon people walked around in the Hutongs, tried some different Chinese street food and experienced a part of Beijing’s lifestyle. Other members of the delegation took the opportunity to meet their local friends.

The past two day gave everybody the opportunity to fully arrive in China and get ready for the coming weeks.

Jonas Künzli & Nicolas Baer

First impressions Insight China 2013

After a long journey we safely arrived in Beijing. Already out of the plane we got an impression of the immense dimensions of China. After flying over desert as well as snow-covered mountains for a long time, the industrial area with some skyscrapers of the greater Beijing area became apparent. Even though it was a sunny day with a rather blue sky, the city of Beijing was covered in a haze of smog and hence was still invisible to us out of the plane.

Straight from the airport we travelled by bus to the great Great Wall.  This was an incredible experience, which really made us realize that we’ve arrived in China, a country of long history and culture.  By cable car – just as in the Swiss mountains with skis – we reached the lightly in snow covered Great Wall at Mutianyu. During approximately one hour we could explore the UNESCO’s cultural heritage and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. In the warm light of the afternoon sun the view from the watchtowers was just breath taking. After hundreds of pictures taken of the valleys and the endless-seeming wall and hundreds of steps; exhausted we took the slideway to get back down from the hilltop. This was great fun!

After another two-hour bus ride to the center of Beijing we were all hungry and ready for our first culinary experience in China. Before going to the most renowned restaurant for authentic Beijing Duck, we took a stroll around the famous shopping street Wangfujing and the nearly located market with all kind of exotic food – scorpions, starfishes, and maggots being only some among many. During dinner we made the interesting but challenging experience of eating genuine Chinese food in the proper Chinese way – with chopsticks or the fingers.

The first day certainly was a very long one, but we already got many first impressions of China's contrasts, which arouse our interest to explore them even further in the next twenty days.

Franca Spielmann & Cinzia Memper

The Insight China Team 2013 arrived safely at the Beijing Heyuan International Youth Hostel.