Perspectives in International Education: Beijing,
China
By Jan Aaron
Beijing, China
Special to Education Update
“My American name is Helen. I chose my
name because I want to be strong like your Helen Keller,” our
Beijing guide says, in flawless English, introducing herself
to our group of visiting journalists from the US, Canada, and
Kuala Lumpur. Her trendy jacket is red, “the color of
happiness,” she says. She carries a red flag. We happily
follow her as we cram centuries of history into three days
in China’s capital.
On the agenda for some
is a preschool visit where tots learn “truth, kindness and beauty.” (Any tourist
can visit a school with a guide.) There also are bus conversations
with Helen about education. “In China, all children must
finish primary and junior middle schools. Exams are required
for entrance to either high school or technical schools,” she
says. Helen, 33, also tells us that she is a college grad,
and “Yes, it takes special training and a rigorous exam
to become a guide,” and “No, you don’t have
to be in the Communist party to be a guide.”
Our education
starts with the vast 98-acre Tiananmen Square, site of one
of the most politically significant events in China’s modern history. Helen tells us about the imposing
gray buildings and then lets us wander around. Awestruck by
the square’s immensity, we mingle with many Chinese tourists
who seem similarly impressed. Kites sail above, tots run about
and giggling teens in hip jeans ask us to pose for pictures
with them. Our group’s Bonnie, a former teacher, remembers
otherwise: “Twenty years ago, I taught English here and
everyone wore blue or gray uniforms,” she says.
The group visits the
other top tourist sites like the Forbidden City where commoners
could not set foot in its Ming and Qing dynasties’ heydays
and where now you still can imagine departed emperors, their
concubines and the eunuchs who guarded them. My favorite
site is the Great Wall, where two of us climb nine towers,
while the others enjoy cappuccinos in the coffee shop below.
Thinking back, it isn’t our delicious Peking
duck feast or nibbling sweets and sipping tea at the Peking
Opera or even Beijing itself, which is truly a jewel in the
coronet of China’s cities, that is most memorable to
me here: It is a lovely little Chinese song Helen sings to
us aboard the bus. Moments like this make a tourist visit a
personal treasure.#
For more information contact Ritz Tours, 1-800-900-2446;
china@ritztours.com
