Beijing Fall 2015: National Museum

On Sunday (10/4) we went to the National Museum! First we had to wait in several lines- we left at 9 and entered the museum around 11)

Here is a selfie in one of the lines. I'm finally appreciating the value of selfies. We got stared at a lot, and I noticed a few people taking pictures. The crowd had very few foreigners, as most people were there for the Chinese equivalent of Independence day. Chinese people have this entire week off (Golden Week), but we still have class! I even had someone come up to me and ask if they could take a photo with me.

There was a very strong military presence, with groups of soldiers constantly patroling. They were very good at walking in unison. A couple of students wanted to take pictures with a soldier. The soldier told us we had to stand outside of the yellow box surrouding him. I thought that was hilarious, so I got a picture as well.

One of many heavily armed guards

Me, outside the soldier's box.

There was also, unsurprisingly, a strong communist presence. Lots of giant communist soldier statues lined the massive museum

Huge!

Here are some of the highlights for me:

This is a piece of neolithic pottery from the Yangshao culture. They were known for their painted designs on their pieces and unadorned bottom halves.