Article #12 in the Student Travel Stories Series from our tour of Beijing, China.
By Xiu Na, Age 15, 9th Grade in Boston. Born in Southern China, came to the U.S. at age 3.
Adorable pandas at the Beijing Zoo!
Q: What were your favorite parts of our China trip, and why?
A: My favorite parts were the Beijing Zoo, the Great Wall of China, and the Hutong neighborhood.
I liked the zoo because I love animals in general, and the panda flipping upside-down on the tire was one of the most adorable things I’ve ever seen. Whenever I see pictures of pandas online, they are all black and white, but the first panda that we saw was lying on the ground and looked like it was sick. It was saddening how this was the first thing I saw when we got to the zoo. The panda’s fur was not white like I thought it was going to be, but it was a shade of yellow and it made the panda look really dirty. (Click here for a photo of the sad panda.) Right after that, we saw two pandas that seemed very energetic and that made me look forward to seeing other animals after the heartbreaking panda who looked sick. The best part of the zoo was seeing different animals in real life that I have never seen before or even heard about.
Xiu Na is on the right, at the Lama Temple in Beijing.
I loved the Great Wall of China because of the scenery and friends. If I climbed up the Great Wall of China alone, I would’ve given up halfway just because I was tired. I was surprised by how all the steps were uneven. Some were farther apart than others and some were about 2 feet tall while some were only about 2 centimeters tall, which made me actually need to look at where I was walking in order to not fall. Climbing with friends gave me motivation to keep climbing until we got to the top.
The Hutong (very old-fashioned, historic Beijing neighborhood) was also one of my favorite parts of my trip because it felt different from the bustling, modern city. In the Hutong, Michelle (who is also Chinese-American and was also traveling for the first time back to our ancestral country) and I were saying “你好” (ni hao, or “Hello” in Mandarin) to random strangers that we passed by, and we recorded their reactions while we were on the rickshaw tour. The strangers smiled back at us and said “Ni hao!” back as if we were friends who hadn’t seen each other in years. This made me feel like everybody there was warm and friendly. Dinner with a real family in their home in the Hutong was also an amazing experience because we didn’t knows the cook, but he made food for us as if we were family.
Q: Lovely! Tell us about one interesting or surprising moment you experienced in China.
The famous Stone Boat at the Summer Palace: Ice-walkers behind!
A: Something I found interesting was that there were people walking on the ice at the Summer Palace. As we were touring the Summer Palace, I saw that there were people in the distance. At first, I was not sure if they were walking on the ice or if they were just really far away from us, but as I kept walking along, I saw more and more people and we were certain that they were all walking on the ice. There were also people sitting in chairs on the ice or gliding on the ice. It was really dangerous because a lot of the ice was cracked or melting! I don’t think people in America would do that.
Q: How was it traveling to China, given that you were born there, but left at age 3 and hadn’t gone back since?
Xiu Na, Michelle, and Ying at the majestic Temple of Heaven.
A: One thing that surprised me was that since I’m Chinese, when I spoke Chinese with Michelle and Ying, nobody Chinese looked at us like we were different from them, but whenever we spoke English, almost everybody who passed us gave us weird looks that made us think we either didn’t belong or they were amazed at how well we spoke English. In the Forbidden City, when Michelle and I spoke English, everybody looked at us with weird looks, but when we spoke Chinese, nobody looked at us differently than how they looked at everyone else. We got to choose whether or not we wanted to fit in with everybody else in China, or stand out. While speaking English in the Forbidden City, there was a group of 4 or 5 people who were staring at us until we left the area that they were in. We saw them pointing and staring at us for at least 10 minutes, which surprised me and made me wonder what they were talking about.
Q: Similarly, Boston student, Candace, became a celebrity in China because of her blond hair! Now, what are some facts about China that you remember that our guide, John, taught us?
Love this photo of BPS students at Beijing's Lama Temple!
A: A fact that I remember most is that China has a One Child Policy. Each family can only have one child or they will be fined money. This surprised me because of the way the Chinese government controls how many children a family could have, but it makes sense given how huge China’s population is.
Q: How was it traveling with a group of BLA students, some of whom you’d never met?
A: Traveling with a group of BLA students that I’ve never met before was an amazing experience because I had a chance to learn about different historical sights in Beijing and meet new people at the same time. I also got a lot closer to the people who I’ve met in school before but I was not close to before the China trip. I do, however, wish I’d known everybody’s names on the first day instead of learning everybody’s name on the last few days of the trip! Teachers shouldn’t assume that kids from the same school know each other!
Q: How do you see things differently now that you’ve traveled to China? How have you changed?
A small corner of the giant Forbidden City of Beijing, China!
A: After traveling to China, I appreciate my family more because at home, my parents usually do most of the housework and cooking, but while in China, we had to keep the hotel rooms clean and get our own lunch and snacks. Whenever I got hungry, I would find myself eating crackers and instant noodles while in China. Now, I appreciate the fact that my parents often clean the house and cook for my sisters and me. I also appreciate my sisters more after visiting China because of how energetic they are. I realized that they are part of what makes my life interesting since they are so unpredictable.
Beautiful, Xiu Na. Thanks! Readers, what comments or questions do you have for this brave, world-traveling student?
The boat that you saw in the Summer Palace can never be sailed out to sea or on a lake. It is made of wood, stone, ivory and a large amount of other materials only an emperor may get. Also I totally understand how you feel since I can speak Chinese and Cantonese fluently but it’s becoming hard to get my thoughts out. Now I speak a mix of English and Chinese to avoid little misunderstandings. .__. I feel so bad about the panda. :’(
Panda’s are cute in pictures, but if i were to see one in real life I would probably be scared.
Ah those pandas are amazing. I love them!
Oh my days, I love those Pandas! I need to go to China to see one! Thanks for all the tips
Glad to add some panda to your day
I love pandas so much. They are so sweet. It reminds me of the stuffed panda I had when I was little.
I have realized that a lot of humility comes to people when they have been taken out of their comfort zone and what they’re used to. I can only imagine what my life would be like if I didn’t have the help of my family to do things that I should soon learn. You start realizing that you need to treasure the things you have more and that you can never take them for granted. Did any of the people walking on the ice fall ?
Those pandas are so cute! I feel so bad for the one that is sick. I wonder if it got antibiotics. It would have been amazing if I could have gone with you.
I feel so bad for the sick panda because he is in a corner while his friends are playing, and having a good time. I never knew animals are like humans in everyway.
I never knew that the lake at Summer Palace would be frozen. When I was younger, my mom told me it never snowed in China, but maybe because the temperature is so cold, it turned into ice.
If your family is from Southern China, it is much warmer there. In northern China, however, it has similar seasons to Boston!
The pandas are so cute! I hope it feels better.
Poor Panda, I wonder if they gave it antibiotics so the sick panda doesn’t have to suffer. :[
Oh my gosh! The pandas are just about the cutest things ever. I can just stare at them all day, but also it is very sad that people don’t treat them the way they should be treated. Some people nee dto realize they are similar to humans too. (:
I clicked on this link because of the panda. Now I feel really sad for the panda. I really despise my own people for treating them this way.
The only reason why polar bears and pandas have yellowish fur is because they are eating oil and fat!
That will color their’re fur into a yellowish shade. :3
That panda is super cute. Too bad pandas are a rare animal now.
Oh my gosh, the pandas are so adorable!
I feel bad that so many animals are sick like these pandas. Also, it must be different to get all this attention in a country just because you speak another language. I guess that here in the U.S we are so used to the diversity.
The speaking English thing–that’s not just China. I live in Spain and people don’t know I’m not Spanish until I open my mouth. When I do speak English out in public in Madrid, people always stare because they’re not used to hearing it. It also happened in my father’s hometown in France (which is not Paris). I speak French fluently but we were showing around some American friends who had come to visit so we were speaking English. We got A LOT of stares simply because foreigners who speak other languages don’t usually show up in that area. It happens everywhere.
So interesting! Thanks for sharing this!
Wow! The zoo must be interesting. The pandas are amazing! Even though they look amazing they could be dangerous if you get very close to them.
The pandas look very cute. It is very sad that the panda’s fur is all dirty and nasty. I think that it is very wrong. Pandas are endangered animals. The zoo shouldn’t keep pandas if they can’t keep the pandas clean and healthy. The sad panda looks like it is dead. They should really clean all the trash that was around the panda. I find the pictures really disturbing.
The picture of the sick panda almost made me cry. It looked so sweet and innocent.
This is very interesting, especially because you have all ready been there before but you returned again and learned more.
True, but seeing Southern China when you’re 3 years old is very different from Beijing when you’re 15!
The pandas are so adorable!
I love pandas! They are so cute and adorable! I hope the sick panda gets better.
What other kinds of animal did that zoo have? And was the sick panda big or small?
Oh my goodness. When I clicked the picture of the sad panda, it broke my heart. Did it get better? Did any of the pandas fall while flipping? Did you get to pet them or something? I wish I could see pandas, they’re just so adorable!
I have always wanted to see a panda. I wish that one gets better!
Really great in depth answers to the questions, provided some good insight. Will look for more articles from this series.
Yay! Thanks! The rest in this series are here: http://www.aroundtheworldl.com/category/learning/student-travel-stories/
All of those pandas were so cute! I did not like even looking at the sick one. It seems so strange to me that people find us speaking English is weird. I would feel so uncomfortable!
The stone boat is so beautiful! It’s like a boat house only made of stone! I wonder if it could float?
We asked our tour guide the same question and he laughed hard and said: “Of course not!”
I love pandas! I hope that sick panda gets cured.
I hope they take good care of the Pandas, because they are special animals. I saw a Panda once at a zoo in Florida.
Those pandas are the cutest! I just want to take one home and snuggle with it all day! But then I would not want to take one home because it might smell. Maybe I might just get a stuffed animal panda bear.
I actually wouldn’t mind the one child policy given the fact that siblings are so annoying. Since I’m the oldest I would be the only one!
Awe! Those pandas are so cute!
I love how going back to a place that you call home, makes you appreciate more of what you have and who you are. I feel really bad for that panda, it is sad to see an animal suffer but we can’t let that be an obstacle for us. I love this article because you made me realize that my parents do so much for me and sometimes I do not appreciate them often. I hope you had fun visiting China!
This article really made me want to actually go to China one day. I’ve never thought about going there until this article. I can tell you all had an amazing time there and thank you for sharing these stories with us.
Wow! I really hope the sick panda get better right away because if the panda look very sick like that, it can die!
I also think pandas are really cute animals. I can’t imagine how sad it must have been to see that sick panda. I hope the animals in America are treated better.
What other kinds of animals did the zoo have? Was the Panda big or small?
Wow! Those pandas are so cute. I am really touched by this article and how it changed Xiu Na. I’ve never been to China before and it seem like a great place to start learning my own heritage.
The pandas are so adorable. Next time, I would like to go to Beijing Zoo to see them!
I would probably not be able to climb The Great Wall of China alone either! That is really werid that the steps of The Great Wall of China were uneven!
I feel sorry for the sad and sick panda and I hope it gets better soon with a happy impression on his/her face.
The Great Wall is 5,488 miles long, but how tall is it? This is interesting because I wonder if people could use it as a way to commit suicide, because if it’s short, they could jump off of the wall. Also, going to the zoo must have been fun because you can see the animal that I think of when I think of China. That’s the panda!
I love pandas, but the zoo takes really bad care of the animals. The animals need the love!
I hope that panda feels better!
I came over from China at the age of 2 and a half.
When I went back to China in 2007, I went to see The Great Wall of China, The Forbbiden City and pandas. The cites were amazing!
Those pandas are so adorable ! I feel bad for the sick panda though.
God bless you and your face.