International Newcomers Network........Is a group here in Beijing that does just what it says....it is a network for newcomers. You can learn about them here. They meet monthly in the same location where we go to church. Capital Mansion, Jing Cheng Da Sha. Or more correctly, the ballroom of the Capital Mansion Athletic Club, Jing Cheng Ju le bu kang le zhong xin. Try to say all that to the taxi driver! We don't, just Jing Cheng Da Sha will get you to the correct building. They organize all sorts of activities for, with and by newcomers. It is an all volunteer organization.
Anyway, My friend Alessandra has been going to this group since she got here a few years ago and I tagged along at the February meeting. ( If I am not mistaken, the person who started INN is the person who owns the veterinary center where we take and board the cats. She is American Chinese, grew up in Manhattan.) One of the things they do is have outings called INN Trekkies.
Last Thursday two friends and I went on the 'Trek' to Tian Yi's tomb. You can read about it here or here the Google link which gives you those and many more. The group from INN planned on meeting at a subway station downtown some where......It would have taken us an hour to get to that spot (at least) then another hour with the group and a 30 minute bus ride to reach the tomb.......we were not excited by that prospect and went with Keary's car instead. It still took us a chunk of time but it was worth it. The tomb and Eunuch Museum is located on the far western side of Beijing out where some hills and mountains begin. When we got to the road it is located on, Mo shi kou Da Jie, there was a street market going on and fitting the car up the narrow roadway was challenging, glad not to be driving!
Chicken for dinner anyone? You have to be willing to do a bit of work to consume it.
There were also pigeons available were your appetite smaller.
Food in bulk! Dried spices, peppers, shrimp and figs.
This is Theresa, the leader of the Trekkie. I met her last fall at the knitting group which I don't actually go to at this point. She was carrying a giant red flower so the group wouldn't lose her in the crowded street and this gentleman felt she needed to add greenery (real) to her flower (fake). Sorry I seem to have cut off the flower. Behind them are members of the group who made the journey by subway and bus. Even though we planned to meet up it happened sort of by accident because we were wandering the market waiting for them to get there and they actually came from the opposite direction and walked right by the entrance to the tomb.
Glad I knew someone in the group or they could have walked right by......or not. We were the only other non Chinese faces on the street, we were certainly an object of much curiosity.
When we first got there we were not exactly sure where the entrance was and when the driver stopped for information the people on the street weren't even sure where it was......the ladies he asked had a bit of a debate trying to figure it out. I guess the locals don't go too often. (It was only another 200 feet up the road!) A pretty good deal, entrance fee...8 kuai or US dollar approximately 1.28.
We could have also had fresh frog, da he xiao, big and small. He peeled them right there with his fingers, who knew it was so easy to skin a frog?
On to the tomb!!
The entry Archway. Into the main courtyard.
A second archway
A Soldier and a Scholar guarding the entrance and another archway into the inner courtyard.
This structure stands in front of the actual tomb. I have not read all there is to know about this place to know exactly what it is, there is one on either side of it as well. My camera couldn't get all three in one shot.
A relief carving on one of the marble altars.
The door into a burial chamber.
There are actually four other Eunuch buried here and two tombs are open. The entire site was robbed of any valuables many, many years ago.
A stone tablet with writing that was inside the tomb. It was so dark inside I could just see that there was something on the stone. The flash made is more evident......don't know what it says.
The base of the stone tablet in one of the three buildings.
It is difficult to tell if these pieces were positioned here originally or when the tomb was repaired.
There is a great deal of history and information on another blog I found when I Googled. Just click on the link, his pictures are better and he is a professional writer as well so I think his commentary is pretty good too........you may never want to read mine again! His would be great to use for planning exploration.
Just some pottery I liked lined up against a wall.
Be careful....a graphic picture is located below the next one.
In the museum, a castration knife replica.
A young eunuch with full disclosure.
A group of eunuchs
The Museum had many more things to look at and I do have more pictures but I have been fighting the VPN all afternoon to do this post so I will leave you with these. Try the blog I mentioned above for a much more informative write up:)
There is actually a second half to the days exploration. Fahai Temple is just up the hill from the tomb. We went there as well but will post it tomorrow.
Love, fondly, sincerely,
zaijian,
Ramona
This is another shot of the High School building. the stairs lead to the upstairs cafe where students can buy food and eat, in nice weather they can eat on the deck. There are three eating areas inside depending on what they want to eat. Of course they can also bring lunch.
