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Health & Fitness

Brewster High School China Trip: May 30, Day 12

A look into the adventures of Brewster High School students and faculty as they begin to wrap up their trip to China.

Our morning wake-up call was louder this morning and longer.  Yesterday was Sunday, but
today classes start bright and early. Music playing is more contemporary and playing for much longer. Whereas on Sunday the music played for perhaps two minutes, today it played for 50 minutes. After a while, it was background music. We are sure the same routine will play out each day this week.
 
We met this morning with the school principal and were given a short show from some Beijing 101 students. Two Beijing 101 students performed songs of their choosing. Less classic and more contemporary, the students sang songs heard on American radio.  
 
After the Beijing 101 students performed, we were invited to perform for them. We were represented nicely with strong representatives from Brewster and Croton.

After greetings, our students were partnered up with Beijing 101 students for a campus tour. Though our students were not with their hosts for long, they bonded nonetheless. Several of our students were given gifts from their hosts. Again, nothing could have prepared us for the
continued generosity extended to us.
 
While on the tour, we had the opportunity to observe morning announcements. Announcements are not made in classrooms, rather on the field. All students go to the field and line up by grade. Announcements are read for between 10 and 15 minutes while students stand. Students were not standing at attention, but were not sitting down either. Much like
American students, there was a wide spectrum of attention being paid to the announcements.

From there some of us had an opportunity to observe physical education classes. Students appeared to enjoy their time and were involved in many non-competitive activities. Basketball is very popular in China, but it was nice see that it was not the only sport students were involved in.  
 
One game in particular, What’s Your Number, struck us as fun. Everyone gets in a circle with
an assigned number. The person who is “it” throws the ball in the air, shouting a number. Everyone else scatters, but must come back if the ball is caught for another toss. If the ball is
not caught, when the person who was called picks the ball up, other players must stop running. The person then tries to hit someone with the fabric ball. Participating students were beside themselves with laughter during the game.
 
After lunch we went to Tiananmen Square.  Tiananmen Square had a greater impact on many of us than we had anticipated. Seeing Mao’s Tomb and the center of China’s government seat was powerful. The combination of being at the central location of China’s government, the omnipresence of Mao, and the history of protest in Tiananmen, made us appreciated the
virtually absolute authority of the Chinese government.
 
The military presence was unmistakable. Part security and part parade, we could feel the government’s presence in both presentation and power.
 
At no other time on the trip did we feel such presence of governmental authority.  

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Even today, the Chinese government states that no protesters died during the protests. Our guide told us that the monument in the middle of Tiananmen Square is officially roped off to protect it, but is probably roped off because there was damage done to from police firearms during the protests.

From Tiananmen Square we visited the Forbidden City.  We were not prepared for the enormity of the City.  We walked about 6 km (3.6 miles) through the Forbidden City, not even
seeing all of it.  
 
We all appreciated the occasional rest in the shade to recoup our energies.

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During the Cultural Revolution, Mao had many of China’s historical landmarks destroyed. If he had lived longer, he would have razed the Forbidden City, the same way he had the city wall around Beijing torn down.

Click on the PDF to the right for photos and the original entry.

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