The 4th in China

This will be the first fourth of July in which I am outside of the United States. To celebrate, another intern and I went to a western-style restaurant in Beijing specifically to order cheese burgers and it was one of the first burgers I have had since being in Beijing. From what we read online this restaurant was supposed to have won an award for having the “best burger in Beijing.” We were not disappointed as I think even by American standards it was a really good burger. The restaurant was also full of other Americans who seemed to be missing home on the fourth and wanted a good burger to celebrate. Though it was not a Fourth that I am used to in the U.S., it was still pretty fun.

In the mean time we have continued to explore different parts of Beijing. This weekend we visited the Lama temple. It is a Buddhist temple in the middle of the city. It is surrounded by a high way and modern office buildings that make it easy to walk right by the temple without noticing it. However, when you walk in there are several large buildings housing different statues honoring Buddha. As we went back there was a temple with a large Buddha statue in the middle and monks surrounding it chanting and meditating. Visitors could sit on mats around the monks or stand on the outside. It was interesting to watch them practicing their religion and to learn more about how they practice. As we went further back the last building housed the largest Buddha statue in the world. It was massive and amazing to look at. Though we could not take pictures of the statues, as it was seen as disrespectful, I think I will always remember it.

Though we are still learning more about Chinese customs and cultures, it is also nice to be able to celebrate the fourth even though we are far away from home. It definitely a fourth that I will remember.

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