Photos taken by Jalen Walker (Washington University in St. Louis), Student Correspondent for CET Beijing, Spring 2024
Outside Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall
Developing a deep understanding of the city in which you’re studying abroad is crucial to supporting the process of cultural acclimation. During week two, we had the opportunity to learn about Beijing’s Central Axis and later take a trip to the Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall to further our understanding of how the concepts of symmetry, balance, and order have been applied to city planning throughout Beijing’s history.
Beijing Model
Inside the Planning Exhibition Hall, there’s no shortage of incredibly detailed models of various historically significant locations across Beijing. Yet, without a doubt, the most captivating one was the scale model of the whole city on which we could even locate Capital Normal University, our host institution.
Class Performances
On a typical Friday, our mornings consist of testing our mastery of material learned during that week with a written test and oral presentation. For a change of pace in week four, we instead worked collaboratively in our respective class levels to create informative and entertaining skits and put on short performances for our classmates and professors to share what we had learned up to that point.
Cishou Temple
One day after classes on a particularly nice day, I took a stroll over to the park closest to campus to take in some fresh air and see more of the surrounding areas. At the parks stands 慈寿寺塔 (Císhòu Sì Tǎ, The Pagoda of Cishou Temple), which was built in 1576 during the Ming Dynasty. Although it has been worn by time and nature, I was struck by the craftsmanship and attention to detail that was evidently present in every decision during its construction.
First Blossoms
Now over a month removed from the Spring Festival, it didn’t take very long for the first blossoms to begin presenting themselves around campus. As the weather gets warmer and spring starts to fully get into swing, I’m looking forward to taking trips to the many parks around Beijing to see what else begins to bloom.
Gugong
故宫 (Gùgōng, Forbidden City) was the imperial palace that was the seat of power for the 24 emperors of China during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Within its walls are over 70 palaces and 9,000 smaller structures—making a trip to 故宫 a momentous occasion where you see a lot and very little at the same time. I captured this photo of a young girl and her grandfather, understandably taking a moment to rest and refuel before continuing their journey through the palace.
Beijing Opera
Ever since I had studied 京剧 (jīng jù, Beijing Opera) and 霸王别姬 (Bàwáng Bié Jī, The Conqueror Bids Farewell to His Favorite Concubine) in high school, I’ve looked forward to having the opportunity to watch a live performance. Luckily enough, a weekend ago, I was able to catch a performance of 霸王别姬 with my language partner. It’s always an incredible feeling to have a classroom experience translate in the real world and this was no different. My past study of 京剧, as well as my current study of Classical Chinese combined, allowed my visit to the Opera to far surpass my expectations—so much so that I’m already planning to take in another performance during my time abroad in Beijing.
WashU-CET Crossover
Last weekend, I got to spend some time with a pair of CET Shanghai students that also go to WashU in St. Louis and join them as they did some exploring during a quick trip to Beijing. Here I am pictured with Paul at the 中华世纪坛 (Zhōnghuá shìjì tań, China Millennium Monument).
Beijing Zoo
During my morning with Paul and Emre from CET Shanghai we also took a brief visit to the Beijing Zoo to see the pandas and other animals on display. Although I’d been to the zoo when I came to Beijing in the past, this was my first time seeing the African and Asian elephants on exhibition, and they seemed to catch the eyes of other visitors almost as much as the pandas.
Chinese Table
Over the past three weeks, it has been our responsibility to decide where the 400 and 500-level students and professors go for our Chinese Table lunch on Friday. This responsibility includes calling the restaurant to make a reservation, interacting with the waiters, and paying the bill when we are there. For our most recent Chinese Table, we went to a 春饼 (chūn bǐng, spring pancake) restaurant within walking distance of campus.