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Headed to Beijing!

Posted on October 14, 2011 By Julie

This weekend Joseph and I head to Beijing, not as journalists or television producers, but as world travelers.

In fact, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China required us to include in our visa application that we “would not engage in any journalistic activities while in China.”  That works for us because we’re visiting my daughter-in-law, Mandy Zhang Feuerbacher and my son, Travis Feuerbacher, who is a diplomat with the U.S. State Department and newly posted to Beijing.

Joseph has been to China twice, in 1990 and 1998, but this is my first visit.  Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Great Wall are all on my bucket list, but over and above these amazing landmarks I’m most excited to see my kids.  As Travelscope always demonstrates the heart and soul of a country is not in its monuments, but in its people – and that includes those who are non-nationals living there.  After the Cultural Revolution much of China’s historic and spiritual heritage was stripped from the temples and public memory or went underground.  Travis and Mandy promise to take us to the “local” places that most tourists don’t visit such as the whole-in-the-wall café with the best Peking Duck in Beijing and one of Beijing’s few remaining monasteries so that we can experience the current state of Buddhism—Chinese style. 

Mandy was born in China and lived there until she was seven when she and her mother joined her father who had come to the United States to study.  What an amazing opportunity we have to be able to meet some of Mandy’s family friends who are part of the privileged elite that had the opportunity to immigrate, but have chosen to return to China because they feel they can make a difference with their art, education and experience.  We’ll dine with documentary film-makers, business leaders and educators thanks to Travis and Mandy’s local connections.  What a special treat! 

Joseph has been asked to speak at the Beijing American Center, yet another opportunity.  The Center’s website describes itself as “The American Center for Educational Exchange (ACEE) is the focus of resources, activities and offices which coordinate and support educational exchanges between China and the United States, the study of the United States and English teaching.”  We’re down with that!  The topic of Joseph’s presentation is Travel as a Life-Changing Experience.  The irony of this subject isn’t lost on us.  Ninety-nine percent of the attendees will never have had the opportunity to travel outside of China.  Yet, personal change has to begin somewhere and learning about and from other cultures through travel experiences can be a good beginning.  Our motto is “If experience is the best teacher, then travel is the best experience.”

From Beijing we will meet our crew in Hong Kong for a production showcasing all that the East’s most cosmopolitan city has to offer.  You might think it strange that we aren’t doing a show on mainland China.  After meeting with the powers-that-be regarding film permits and visas for shooting on the mainland as opposed to Hong Kong, it became quite clear that we would not be able to capture a “Travelscope” experience.  Access was restricted to many places and people and there would be scrutiny of our footage and the possibility of confiscation if they did not approve of what we captured.  It was clear that doing a Travelscope show would be impossible.  But we’re very excited to capture the Hong Kong experience and share it with all of you as part of Season 6 – released June 2012. 

We’ll be posting some comments and photos from our Beijing adventures, assuming that we will be able to do so.  We are told that internet access is blocked, regulated, monitored and censored in China.  Stay tuned….

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