The Camera

Coming down from the Great Wall riding on an alpine slide was a memorable experience. For those of you who aren’t familiar with what that is, it’s like a one man bobsled with wheels that zig-zags down the mountain side on a metal track. Using a lever, you control the speed of the sled. The regular position allows you to slide forward, but prevents you from going too fast. Pulling it towards you applies the full power of the brakes, bringing you to a stop. Pushing forward releases all slowing mechanisms, and your car picks up a surprising amount speed as you roll unconstrained down this mountain. As you go down this Alpine slide there are regular signs reminding you to slow down.

I have to admit that I was being kind of reckless. My roommate Josh (who was riding in front of me) had a much slower sled, and it didn’t take long before I had caught up to him, intentionally ramming into the back of his sled. (I did this not only once, but three times.) The third time I hit his sled especially hard, smashing his draw-string bag hanging off the back of his little sled. I got that awful feeling in my gut reminding me that my camera was in that bag. You would have thought that would have ended my recklessness, but I was just getting started. (I’m embarrassed to write this…) I pulled back hard on my brakes and came to a complete stop. Waiting as long as possible without getting hit by a sled behind me, I took off down the track full speed with no one in front of me. Cruising down particularly steep sections of the track I felt my sled lift off the ground, catching air as I passed sudden drops in the track. As I passed check-points I paid no attention to the safeguards on the side of the track shouting at me to slow down. Nearing the end of the Alpine Slide, there was a particularly steep corner that my sled wasn’t prepared to take at that speed. Everything went into slow motion as I felt my sled begin to ride up the side of the wall and flip upside down, coming out from under me, turning me from a sitting position to being sprawled out face down. Looking up from my stomach, I rolled off the track moments before being run-over by the sled behind me. He smashed into my already upside down sled seconds after I got out of the way. I felt extremely lucky, despite the large cut on my right knee. I walked the last little bit to the end the track.

Now to get to the reason I’m writing this entry. Holding that broken camera in my hands, a thousand thoughts went through my mind all at once. Frustration, disappointment, anger maybe?
Some years ago (when I was still a little boy), my Dad helped my Uncle Truman and his friend Travis move to Georgia. My dad was driving Travis’s SUV pulling a U-Haul up a mountain when the engine completely gave out. My dad expected him to be mad and frustrated with him, or at least about the situation, but he wasn’t. His reaction was calm and his response was simply: “I guess my stewardship over this car has ended.”

Being upset about my broken camera wasn’t going to help anything, and the only one to blame was myself. With a slight chuckle I remarked to those standing around me: “Well that was dumb.” I had an hour ride back to Beijing to think about how dumb that had been. Could I afford to buy a new camera right now? I just might have to go without one for a while. Those were my thoughts when Josh handed me his camera that his parents had sent it to him while he was on his mission. With a Christ-like smile on his face he responded that he doesn’t use it any more, commenting that he always uses the camera on his phone now. I can’t really put into words the way I felt in that moment. All I can say is that it’s amazing how powerfully you can feel the Lord’s love through someone’s actions.

The Great Wall Of China

"The strength of a wall is neither greater nor less than the courage of the men who defend it." - Genghis Khan

In 221 BC, a man by the name of Qin Shi Huang unified the warring city-states of China establishing the Qin Dynasty. To protect his empire against intrusions from the north, he ordered the building of a wall. There are no surviving historical records indicating the exact length and course of the Qin Dynasty walls and little of that wall remains today. The Great Wall concept was revived again during the Ming Dynasty in the 14th century. During this time, signal towers were built along the wall as a form of communication between army units, permitting them to call reinforcements and warn garrisons of enemy movements. It’s interesting to note that the wall stretches over 5,000 miles and that hundreds of thousands of workers died during its construction.

As Mongol raids continued periodically over the years, the Ming emperors devoted considerable resources to additional construction of the wall, which towards the end of the Ming Dynasty helped defend the empire against the Manchu invasions that began around 1600. The Ming army under the command of Yuan Chonghuan held off the Manchus at the heavily fortified Shanhaiguan pass, preventing the Manchus from entering the Chinese heartland. The Manchus were finally able to cross the Great Wall in 1644, after Beijing had fallen to rebels and the gates at Shanhaiguan were opened by the commanding Ming general Wu Sangui, who hoped to use the Manchus to expel the rebels from Beijing. The Manchus quickly seized Beijing, and defeated both the rebel-founded army and the remaining Ming resistance, giving them control over all of China beginning a new dynasty (Wikipedia.com).

Today we visited the Great Wall of China! It was something that I have wanted to do for as long as I can remember. This particular section of the wall, rides the crest of the surrounding mountains. Through the centuries that pasted, the wall fell into disrepair, but much has now been renovated to appear as it once did. The majority of tourists entering this section wander along the wall to the left, which continues on as far as the eye could see. Taking Br. Galer’s advice we decided to instead take the path to the right. I like to refer to this part of the wall now, as “the road less traveled.” It was a steep hike but we eventually came to the end of the renovated part and to a sign telling us to go back. Walking around this sign, opened our eyes to a whole new experience that most tourists never get to see. Yes, this part of the wall is overgrown but it was thrilling to know that every stone we were walking on were the original stones laid during the Ming Dynasty. I couldn’t help but marvel about the history within these walls. If that in itself wasn’t enough, there were breath-taking views of the mountains and surrounding valleys.

Tian'anmen Square

Tian’anmen Square was named after the Tian’anmen Gate located to its North, separating it from the Forbidden City. In addition to being one of the largest city squares in the world, it has great cultural significance as it was the site of several important events in Chinese history. Used as a massive meeting place since its creation, its flatness is contrasted by the 125ft high Monument to the People's Heroes, and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong. In recent memory, it is best known as the focal point of the Tian’anmen Square student protests of 1989, a pro-democracy movement which ended with the declaration of martial law in Beijing by the government, resulting in the death of hundreds of protesters. On the night of June 3 and the early morning hours of June 4, 1989 soldiers opened fire on Chinese protesters in the streets to the west of the square and adjacent areas. Today the Square is lit with large lampposts fitted with video cameras, being heavily monitored by uniformed and undercover policemen (Wikipedia.com).

While we were there today, a man handing out some kind of pamphlets on the square was dragged away by police officers. (I guess that happens regularly here?) One of our BYU-Idaho professors caught the incidence on his camera, but was forced to erase it by other policemen monitoring the scene.

Walking The Streets Of Beijing

This just feels so unreal!! Every once in a while it just hits me that I am actually walking the streets of Beijing! We checked into our dorms tonight and are exhausted. As I was buying soap tonight in the little store downstairs, they cashier gave me too much change back for an item I had bought. I quickly pointed out her mistake and gave her back the difference. A look of surprise and appreciation came over her face and she thanked me for my honestly. It wasn’t a lot of money, but I remembered a sword buried in Taizhong, Taiwan.

Twelve Pounds Over

Arriving at the airport this morning, my bag was overweight. We were only allowed one

suitcase,and I packed only essentials (which in my case was mostly clothes). I was surprised to find that my suitcase was 12 lbs overweight. I opened it to see what I could throw away, but how can you throw away 12 lbs of clothes? You would think I would be stressed out, but I wasn't. Instead, I chose to smile, and everything turned out alright in the end. The flight worker seeing my predicament brought me a garbage bag to put my clothes in, and I took that bulky bag of clothes through security as my personal item. Haha

On the plane I sat next to this wonderful Chinese lady (Su Meng) and her son (Zi Han). We talked through much of flight. I remember at one point she talked about how she sometimes worries about her son. Her husband left her when her son was only five years old, and she had been left to raise her son all alone. Earlier I mentioned that I had been a missionary in Taiwan, so she began asking questions about what I believed. I told her that I would love to share with her more, but because of Chinese laws I couldn’t. She continued to insist though, and said something to the effect that the law said I couldn’t proselyte, but since she asked it was ok for me to answer her. Trusting her I went on to explain about Christ’s atonement and the restoration. I told her that I hoped one day she would have an opportunity to read the Book of Mormon. When we finally arrived, I felt we had developed a pretty good relationship. If I have the opportunity to visit Xi’an, she said that I should let her know and she will take me out to lunch.