Several members of the 2011-12 Honeybees dance team traveled to China for the Boshiwa Kids Carnival.
Follow along as the girls write about their experiences and adventures overseas!
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So as I sit here, not being able to sleep on this 13 hour flight from Beijing to Chicago, I begin to reminisce on all the good times we have had within the past 12 days. From the moment we landed in China and gathered our bags, we were immediately welcomed with open arms by our tour guide, Linda. Over the next 11 days, she would become more like a friend to us...making it even harder for us to go our separate ways!
Overall, the Boshiwa Kids’ Carnival was a huge success! Our performances were a hit, and we took so many photos...we all felt like celebrities walking on the red carpet! Seeing the excitement on the kids’ faces as we performed and interacted with them made the extremely long and crammed plane ride well worth it! My favorite moment of the trip happened during one of our performances. As we were dancing, a little boy from the crowd ran to the front of the stage and began dancing with us, trying to mimic our every move! I honestly can’t say enough about how thrilled everyone was to have us there, and I am positive that we now have some New Orleans Hornets fans representing in China!
As you can tell, we worked hard and played even harder. We were very busy on our three days off, visiting the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and my favorite, the Hutong Village. Not only is the well-planned architecture beautiful and the views awe-inspiring, but it is the rich history of Beijing that makes it so special and unique.
It goes without saying that we had an AMAZING trip! The hospitality we received from everyone was so heartwarming and true...from the NBA staff, to our tour guides, to even our driver! I hope you all enjoyed reading our diaries, but now it’s time for me to get some sleep because it’s back to reality tomorrow...work and practice!
Ashlie
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We arrived at another Boshiwa kids store for our one and only appearance for the day. We performed, took photos with our fans and signed lots of autographs. Hugo and Rocky, the Denver Nuggets mascot, got in on the action by leading a group of kids in a hilarious game of musical chairs. Honeybee Kristen also played. By the way, all three were defeated by a six-year old girl. Kenny Smith followed us with an appearance of his own, and then we all traveled back to our hotel to rest up for our next work day.
We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at our performing venue on Saturday. It was at a beautiful new mall called The Place, which is home to the largest LED screen in Beijing. So cool! We performed outside at the festival as well as inside another Boshiwa store inside the mall. We finished the day with a dance clinic outside at the festival. Six little girls joined us on stage and mirrored our movements while shaking pom poms and flinging their hair. Later that night, Linda took us out on the town and we danced the night away. We had a blast!
The next day it was time to do it all over again, except this time it would be the last time. We cherished every second of this day, because we will never have these moments again. After our appearance we had dinner and toasted to this wonderful experience in China. We all agreed that we will truly miss this place. Trying not to let the tears fall, we left dinner to return to our hotel and start packing up. Although we love Beijing, we really miss you New Orleans, and can’t wait to get back. See you soon!
Wilneisha
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Summer Palace is also the setting for one of China’s most famous stories, the story of the Dragon Lady. The short version goes a little like this...The Dragon lady was never really an empress. She was the mother of the emperor’s only son who was only 6 years old when the emperor died. The Dragon Lady ruled on her son’s behalf since he was so young, but because she craved the power she continued to rule even after he was old enough to officially rule by himself. When he too died at a young age, she appointed her 4 year old nephew as emperor so she could continue to rule. She was mean like a dragon, hence her name. The living quarters that she designated for her nephew (the emperor) were more like a prison in that there was only one entrance. She made sure that his power was limited by stationing guards at that entrance 24 hours a day. She ended up poisoning her nephew so that he would never rule without her.
After hearing the story of the Dragon Lady we walked down the long corridor that she used to walk every night after dinner. We looked out onto her beautiful man-made lake and took pictures with the life size marble boat. Then we traveled across the lake on an amazing dragon boat. Sometimes we even felt like celebrities. As we would take group pictures, the tourists would take pictures of us. To them, we were the attraction. Wilneisha and I would often be pulled aside to take separate photos.
On our way to our next destination we shared stories with our tour guide Linda. She expressed how much China’s culture is influenced by American music and entertainment. She loves Angelina Jolie, Usher, “Sex and the City”, “Desperate Housewives” and “Gossip Girl”. Talking with Linda made us realize that even in a different country most girls share the same interests. Her stories also make the drive anywhere seem shorter. She’s such a trip! Before we knew it we were at the Temple of Heaven. The emperor would visit the Temple of Heaven twice a year to pray and make sacrifices to the god of the heavens. In the spring he would pray for a good harvest and in the winter he would pray for abundant snow. More snow meant more moisture to produce quality crops the following season. The actual temple is comprised of three tiers. The top tier symbolizes heaven, the middle represents the people and the bottom layer…the earth. Here they all come together as one.
After a long day of history, me and my fellow Honeybees needed something to refresh our spirits and get us going again. So we did what any fashionable Honeybee would do at a time like this...shop! Linda took us to the Pearl Market where we shopped our little hearts away. It was a great idea because we could even bargain our own prices! And who doesn’t like to bargain? Many purses and a couple of t-shirts later and we were all officially worn out. It was a great way to end our third day off. Another great day in China! What can I say - it’s always great to be a Honeybee!
Jennifer
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After the Great Wall, we had one of our most delicious lunches yet and then we were on our way to the silk workshop. We were led on a tour of the shop and given a brief demonstration of how silk is made. The tour ended in the retail shop where we were set free to sample and purchase all of the silk items made in the workshop. We walked away with some great silk souvenirs for our family and friends. We were in a bit of a time crunch but managed to snap a few pictures of the Olympic stadium (the birds nest) before heading back to the hotel to get dolled up for the evening.
We were so excited to go to the Chinese acrobatic show! For a full hour and a half, we were all out of our seats and fully impressed by these talented Chinese artists. After watching the show, we immediately missed our fellow Honeybees and couldn’t wait to share the details of this moment with them. To make this day even more perfect, we ended up at Hard Rock Café Beijing for dinner. We were pleasantly surprised when we saw a band walk in to play. We had so much fun signing and laughing along to their very impressive renditions of some good old American music. Before long, it was time to call it a night and we went back to home sweet home for some much needed rest. Tomorrow is another action-packed sightseeing day, so stay tuned for more Honeybee coverage from Beijing!
Giselle
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First on the agenda was Tiananmen Square, which is the largest square in the center of a city in the world! It is mostly used for political conferences, political speeches and celebrations and is also located in the Imperial City. A memorial for all the "people's heroes" was located in the center, with the National Museum of China nearby. Towards the back of the square was the entrance to the Forbidden City.
We proceeded to the Forbidden City, where there was entrance gate after entrance gate after entrance gate! It felt monotonous until I thought about the great strategy of exhausting your intruder before they get to their destination. We only passed through five gates, where as in ancient times there were nine. Nine was a very significant number because it had direct correlation to the Emperor, so we noticed that all of the Emperor’s buildings had design elements duplicated nine times. I also learned that the flooring of the city is 15 layers of stone, another excellent tactic for keeping out unwanted guests (and earthquakes). After tripping for the ump-teenth time, I asked Linda why the doorways had such a high step to cross through. She told me it was to keep ghosts out of the rooms as well as rain water and bugs. We took lots of pictures and hopped back onto the bus for our next destination.
After we left the Forbidden City we traveled to Hutong Village, which is the oldest city in Beijing. We met our tour guide for the village and she introduced herself as Angelina...Jolie! Ha! She showed us to our rickshaws and we were off to our first stop, the old drum tower. Angelina Jolie explained that back before there were clocks, the villagers were warned that evening was coming by the sound of huge drums. We rushed up a huge, steep flight of stairs (about 69 steps, each the height of half my body) to see a demonstration of the drum show. Then we hurried down the steps and were brought to Mr. Zhang’s family home. We had a seat in his courtyard and he told us the history of his home in Hutong Village. His family has been there for 100 years and he is the fifth generation. He is also the only paper cutter artist in all of Beijing and this skill was passed down from father to son. I bought one of his pieces of art to remember the experience by. It was truly amazing to sit down with one of the local villagers from the oldest city in Beijing! It was hard to say goodbye, but I made sure to get a picture with Angelina Jolie! Who knew she was so down to earth!
Our last stop was the Silk Market, where Linda warned us of the temptations of spending way too much money! It was a huge five-story mall with tons of knock off clothes, purses, wallets and shoes...every girl’s dream. Linda’s warning went right out the window as soon as all of us began shopping. Needless to say, we all went home as happy girls with not just one but TWO arms full of shopping bags!
Last but definitely not least, we finished off our eventful day with one of China’s most traditional dinners, Peking Duck! Linda informed us that there is a lot of time and effort that goes into this dish. First, the cooks have to prepare the duck that will eventually be roasted, then, once the duck is roasted, it is carved at the table, and served in multiple courses. It was delicious!
As you can see, we are exhausted, so I am going to rest up for the next eventful sightseeing day of Beijing. Stay tuned to see what else China has in store for Hugo and the Honeybees!
Kristen
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Sunday morning was beautiful, sunny and 75 degrees. We performed on an outdoor stage amongst the children’s activities. The kids and families looked even more excited than the day before! Their enthusiasm definitely motivated us, and it was extremely rewarding. On this day for lunch we ate another common Chinese meal called “Hot Pot”. You choose your broth, meat and veggies and sit at your own personal boiling pot. Once you receive your raw meat and mound of various vegetables, you throw everything in and your meal is done in minutes. It was delicious and we were able to practice eating with chopsticks...no forks at this restaurant! After another great performance, we held a mini-dance clinic and six lucky young ladies were chosen to dance on stage with us. Our day continued as we traveled across town to another Boshiwa location. Before our appearance we ran into Kenny Smith from TNT and got a quick photo in to share with you. He was also making an appearance at the same Boshiwa store with us. What a long and eventful day!
Today was our third day at the Boshiwa Kids Festival with another full day ahead of us. However, today was more special than the last two because it's Mid Autumn Festival, a traditional Chinese Holiday second only to Spring Festival (or Chinese New Year). On Mid Autumn Festival, Chinese families gather together under a large bright moon and enjoy moon cake. We think of it as King Cake to New Orleanians. Linda and our NBA hosts gave us a beautiful presentation of Moon Cakes and I can’t wait to try some! We finished up our long weekend of performances with relaxing massages at the spa. What a great way to prepare for our next three days of sightseeing. We are excited to be touring historical China at the Forbidden City and shopping at the Silk Market tomorrow. Stay tuned Hornets fans and zhong qiu jie kuai le! That means Happy Mid Autumn Day!
Brianna
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