Shanghai is a remarkable city. It is the largest metropolis in China with over 18 million residents, it is also what the Chinese are calling “China’s Future City.” We spent a good amount of time there and were able to tour many of the different sites that Shanghai has to offer.

After our early morning flight from Xi’an we checked into our hotel and went for a tour of the Bund area. The Bund offered a dramatic view of the Shanghai skyline, an opportunity to once again hone our bargaining skills, and a beautiful area to walk along the waterfront. You’ll see a picture of the waterfront below. The rest of the evening was left to explore the area around our hotel which was filled with shops and restaurants.

The next day was spent visiting some of the shopping areas of Shanghai and some of us were able to go up in the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. The view was breathtaking from inside the tower. One could see the entire waterfront as well as most of the business district of Shanghai.

We performed a concert that evening. Much like Xi’an we performed at a local university and were greeted by students studying english. We had a chance to once again meet new people and make new acquaintances. The school had a wonderful auditorium and we performed before an audience of nearly 1,000 people!

On our final day in Shanghai we visited a silk weaving company. They put on a brief fashion show for us and then showed the process used in making silk. We got to see everything including the silkworms!

We then went to the Yu Garden, a beautiful garden and one of the highlights of Shanghai.

The rest of our time was spent in the bazaar next to the garden where we once again had a chance to bargain (the most popular item seemed to be the Chairman Mao Pocketwatch). Finally, that evening we attended an acrobatics show. The show was unbelievable including 9 people riding a bicycle, a man balancing himself on top of 6 chairs, and 6 motorcycles riding inside one small metal sphere. Below you’ll see a some footage from the show.

We now say goodbye to China and move on to Tokyo. Many of us chose to travel to the Shanghai airport on their Maglev train. The train travels at a top speed of 431km/h and we were at the airport in 7 minutes!

We have a very brief stay planned in Xi’an and today is our sightseeing day. We began in the morning with the famous Terracotta Warriors. Many of us had no idea what to expect and we were awed by the scale of the Warriors. The warriors were discovered in the 70’s and the excavation and archeological process is still very much in process. We were able to tour three of the pits of the warriors, over 6000 have been discovered. Below you will see some photos of the warriors. Each statue tells a different story and no two statues are identical. One can tell the rank of the soldier by the style of their hair and according to our guide, in many cases you can tell what region of China the warrior may be from by the expression on their face.

After visiting the Warriors we toured a factory where they manufacture replicas of the warriors. The process was very interesting to see and one can only imagine what it would have been like to try to build those warriors thousands of years ago.

The highlight of the day for many of us was the Xi’an City Wall. The wall is in remarkable condition and surrounds the older part of the city. One can see the many guard towers all spaced 120 meters apart. The top of the wall is open for people to walk, exercise and ride bikes. Many of us chose bike riding as our method for exploring the wall. For a small fee, both tandem and single bikes were available and the Tour de Xi’an began. Riding the tandem bike was pretty challenging, on top of the balancing issues and such we also had the added challenge of trying to adjust the seats and get in positions where riding was comfortable. The trip around the wall is supposed to take around 100 minutes to complete and we had one tandem team make the entire loop in just under 45 minutes! The rest of us just stayed close to the starting area. Below you’ll see some video of the journey (soon, in editing process now). We all made it back comfortably and with only a few scrapes and bruises.

The wall tour left us with a healthy appetite. Fortunately, that evening was our “Dumpling Banquet.” The dumplings were filled with a variety of foods: pork, rice, walnuts, chicken, vegetables, and bamboo. The dumplings are small, about the size of a ping pong ball, the meal was served one type of dumpling at a time and we had about 15 different kinds.

Following dinner we departed for a Tang style music and dance performance. The costumes, choreography and music were remarkable. They performed on period instruments and everyone seemed to enjoy the very elaborate performance. We then returned to the hotel to get a little sleep before we leave for Shanghai at 4:30 am.

Today started very early. We began at 4:30 am and departed our hotel for the Beijing Airport. We were again impressed with how nice the terminal is and how efficiently everything ran there. Beijing has really prepared well for the Olympics. We had a short flight of around 1 hour 40 minutes to the ancient city of Xi’an, home of the famous Terra-Cotta Warriors. Xi’an is a very different city than Beijing. While Beijing has a tremendous amount of new building, stunning architecture, and is very modern; Xi’an is much more old-fashioned. The streets are crowded with buses, cars, taxis, and thousands of bicycles.

Xi’an is also the closest area to the earthquake ravaged Sichuan Province that we will visit. Our guide pointed out numerous trucks that were carrying tents and other relief supplies. In fact, our instruments that were being flown separately from us to Xi’an were bumped off their original flight so that more earthquake relief supplies could be taken to the area.

In the afternoon we had the opportunity to attend mass at a local Chinese Catholic church. It was a remarkable service. The Chinese priest performed the mass in english and we were able to participate fully and understand everything well. He spoke english very well and delivered a short homily. Some local people attended the service as well and it was very special to share the mass with them. They were extremely welcoming and extremely kind to us. After mass we exchanged songs, we sang the alma mater for them and they shared one of their hymns (see the video below).

The evening concert proved to be one of the most memorable nights of the trip thus far. We were greeted at the university by 30 english students at the university. They brought us water and took us to dinner. We were able to converse with them throughout the meal and many of us left with e-mail addresses of our new Chinese friends.

We performed in their Auditorium to a crowd of nearly 1,000 people. Prior to the concert we observed a minute of silence for the earthquake victims. We played a full program and the audience was very receptive and grateful. Following the concert we took pictures with many of the Chinese students and then boarded the bus to return to the hotel.

Today we visited the Summer Palace, a beautiful place set in the hills above Beijing. In ancient times the emperor would go to this palace when the weather was warm in Beijing. The architecture is very similar to what we saw yesterday. Lots of intricately painted walls, sculptures and statues, and lots of spectacular wood work. The Chinese have integrated a great deal of symbolism into their architecture. We frequently see statues of animals and different numbers of statues gates or other structures indicating different characteristics of each building: who lived there, importance of the building, who could enter, etc…

After the Summer Palace we returned to Beijing and had an opportunity to do some shopping. For many of us it was our first time bargaining. Our guide described it as the opportunity to “practice our bargaining skill,” and skilled we were. The salespeople were EXTREMELY aggressive and the bartering process proved to be extremely fun. Some of us got into it more than others, but most everyone came away with a truly memorable experience from the shopping excursion. Several students were even commended by the salespeople for their shrewd financial prowess!

The evening was dedicated to our concert in the Beijing Concert Hall. A remarkable facility comparable to our own DeBarolo Performing Arts Center on campus. Our concert was well publicized and we were featured on a lighted poster outside the venue. The performance was well attended and we were very well received. The crowd particularly enjoyed the Victory March, the Welcome to Beijing Olympic Suite, and our last encore (we performed three in total), the Irish tune Rakes of Mallow.

Below is a video of our performance of the Victory March that evening. I think the concept of a fight song is somewhat difficult to explain to the people here, but they seem to understand what the Victory March is all about. After the performance one audience member said “Your Notre Dame song makes me feel so encouraged.”

Another extremely full day. We toured many of the central sites in Beijing today. Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City were remarkable. Much like yesterday, the sheer size of the places we visited today was overwhelming. Tiananmen Square is the largest city square in the world and it is framed by many of China’s most famous landmarks. Chairman Mao Zedong’s mausoleum sits to one side of the square, a huge building described by our guide as “China’s Parliament” sits to the another side, the Chinese Museum of Natural History to another side, and the Forbidden City to another. Chairman Mao’s presence is still felt very strongly throughout China. His books are sold by street vendors throughout Beijing and his portrait adorns the entrance to the Forbidden City. You can see this portrait below.

Beijing is extremely proud to be hosting the Olympics this year. There are signs, statues, and other advertisements throughout the city. In Tiananmen Square they have a large clock counting down to the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.

After our morning in Tiananmen Square we departed for the Temple of Heaven. The Temple of Heaven was built as a place for the emperor to go to pray. He would go twice each year and would pray for good harvests. It is a stunning structure and is constructed without any nails or screws holding it together!

Finally, in the evening we gave our first performance. We were at a university in Beijing and had a small concert hall, but a good audience. We performed a one hour concert and the audience was very receptive to our music. They particularly liked the Spring Festival Overture, which is a traditional Chinese piece and many of the Olympic themed pieces of music. Below is a video of our rehearsal before the concert. Tomorrow night is our biggest concert in the beautiful new Beijing Concert Hall.

We had our first day of sightseeing and it was very full. We visited Ming Tombs, a Jade factory, a Cloisoinne factory, climbed the Great Wall of China, and saw the Olympic venues. Not bad for one day! The grandeur and scale of many of the things we are seeing is unbelievable. The Ming Tombs featured some of the largest wooden pillars in the world (see picture below).

The highlight of the day by far was the trip to the Great Wall of China. Beijing has five sections near it and we were at the section called Badaling. The wall was very steep as you can see in the photos. We all climbed to different levels on the wall depending on how adventurous we were feeling. It was very warm, well into the 90’s so we got quite a workout from the climb. Believe it or not, the ascent was the easier part. Coming down the steps are all uneven and you have to be much more careful of your footing. The picture below is of the Badaling section of the Great Wall with one of the Beijing 2008 Olympic signs. You can see a video of a brief band member stampede down the wall below.

I apologize for the poor quality of this photo, but this is a group shot of the band at the Great Wall. Since we are all in the picture I had to take a picture of the picture. We’ll hope to have a better photo when we get back to the states.

After a long day of traveling we’ve arrived at our hotel. Everyone is very tired, but in very high spirits! The flight from Chicago was about 13 hours and the connecting flight to Beijing was around 4. We landed at the new Beijing International Airport and it is beautiful! It just opened to the public in April and according to our guide it is the largest single terminal in the world. Tomorrow will be a very full day, we’ll see the Great Wall of China and tour some of the Olympic venues in Beijing.

Look for photos tomorrow!

China, and Beijing in particular are about to be on the world stage as they host the 2008 Summer Olympics. The Olympics are a part of why we chose to visit China and not only will we have the opportunity to tour some of the Olympic venues like the Bird’s Nest (the brand new Olympic Stadium) and the Beijing National Aquatics Center, but we will also perform Olympic themed music during our concert as well as premiere a brand new piece written especially for our tour and the Beijing Olympics by Dr. Ken Dye.

The 2008 Olympic Suite for Band is inspired by the fuwa (mascots) of the Beijing games. Each mascot carries a different blessing, represents one of the Olympic rings, and excel at different sports. The mascots represent four of China’s most popular animals — the Fish, the Panda, the Antelope, the Swallow, and the Olympic Flame. Each of the mascots has a rhyming two-syllable name — a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. Beibei the Fish, Jingjing, the Panda, Huanhuan, the Olympic Flame, Yingying the Antelope, and Nini the Swallow. When their names are said together — Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni — they say “Welcome to Beijing,” The Olympic Suite for Band is composed in five movements each featuring the traits of one of the Fuwa.

This new piece has served as a wonderful introduction to Chinese culture for many of us going on the trip and a very exciting way for all of us to play a part in the Olympic festivities. We’ll hope to share some recordings once the trip is underway.

Today we performed our annual Commencement Concert. The concert drew a large audience this year and we were thrilled with how enthusiastically the performance was received. This concert featured a sampling of the music which will be performed on the tour. Most notably, we premiered Welcome to Beijing: An Olympic Suite for Band a work written by Dr. Dye especially for this tour. The piece is inspired by the “fuwa,” a group of mascots that are used to promote the Beijing Olympics. The piece is composed in five movements, each representing one of the fuwa and one of the Olympic rings. Below you will see a photo from the concert taken during the Song of Passion, for each movement the band will display the color of the Olympic ring that inspires each of the movements. Much more on this special piece later!

Friday of Senior Week is upon us and graduation festivities are under way. The campus is beginning to fill up with families and visitors here to attend the ceremonies to be held this weekend. The Band will be especially busy. Today we perform our annual Commencement Concert. The performance will feature music that will be performed on our tour of China and Japan. The Concert is at 5:30 and we’re anticipating a substantial audience. Before the concert we’ll also be performing at the Mendoza College of Business’s Commencement Ceremony. That is just the beginning! Saturday the Band will perform at the ROTC Commissioning, Graduate School Commencement, Baccalaureate Mass, and University Commencement Ceremony.