Wonders of China

In honor of the 2008 Olympics being held in Beijing, the Travel Channel has dedicated this entire week to programming about China. And my favorite traveler has gone to China. In a three-part Passport to China, Samantha Brown shows us different things to do in China.


In the first part, Samantha goes to Beijing. She visits Tiananmen Square, where Communist China was born and where the famous protest was held. It's very large square--Brown says it is the length of 90 (!) football fields. She does a cute "Hello...Hello...Hello" as the camera flashes to different parts of the square. She meets a friend who gives her a tour of the square, where everything starts off with "The People's..." like "The People's Memorial."

Interesting side note: One of my journalism professors was actually at Tiananmen Square the day of the protests. She and a bunch of American journalists captured the events and then quickly got out of the country. As they passed through airport security with the footage, they reminded each other "You don't speak Chinese." So as security yelled at them, they each said, "I don't speak Chinese," and boarded their planes. Quite a risk, but one journalists have to take to get the news out.

Samantha next goes to the Forbidden City or the ancient palace of the Chinese emperors. It looks so beautiful. I wouldn't mind living there. She also visits a Chinese acrobatic show, trying to do some of the tricks. I took one look at the child who had bent backwards with her feet stretched out in front of her face and said, "Ouch." I know I'm not flexible enough to pull that off, and neither was Samantha. I agree with her--it's a lot better to watch it then be in it. She spends a day at the ancient Chinese emperors' summer home which is just outside the city and worlds away. It's on a river, set among trees and looks like an ideal summer home.

To cap off the episode, Samantha goes to the Great Wall of China and is greeted by...souvenir vendors. She's surprised. I mean, seriously, for someone who has been everywhere INCLUDING Disney World where nearly every ride exits into a gift shop? She takes a cable car up to the wall and walks along one of the great wonders.

Part Two: Sichuan (Pandas!) tomorrow
Part Three: Xian on Friday.

Right now, the Travel Channel is making my gray day sunnier by having a Samantha Brown marathon. Looks like I'll be able to do mini-recaps for those Great Weekend episodes I missed.