Sorry, I couldn't post my blog because the website was blocked on public internet.. but I still wrote.. Enjoy!
Our Central College group took a trip to China’s capital- Beijing for 5 days. In those five days we saw The Great Wall, The Summer Palace, The relic Summer Palace, a Kung Fu show, and many other things that are special to Beijing, I wish that I could have blogged everyday, but the days were really long. On the day that we went to the Great Wall we walked along one of the most rugged parts- for about 7 miles! That day was by far the most breathtaking day I have ever had… not just because of the sight, but also because of the walk! Thank goodness we had a nice hotel with a BATHTUB!! (which I was too tired to use)
Other highlights from the Central trip:
I bought a Columbia coat for really cheap and it is the kind with the sweater inside
The Great Wall gave me a sunburn… which gave me blisters. I went to the pharmacy and Chinese medicine made them go away in one day
I have bought so many things in Beijing that I don’t want to take a train back
After the Central College group left to come home Michael and I planned to stay 6 days longer (many people ask “what else is there to see?” and my there is a lot!). Today was Michael and my first day alone, and we have successfully traveled to 3 random, beautiful places and managed to get caught in the hardest rain that I have seen. (Thank goodness it only rained for 5 minutes!)
The first place we went to was the China Art Museum, which is a new place that is still under construction... I wish I could come back in 5 years when it is done being built! They had so many historic and art displays that this took us about 4 hours. After that we found a random park that cost 2 yuan (30 cents) so we walked through the park until we saw this huge tower. Michael kept taking pictures of it so we decided to walk toward it until we figured out what it was. As we approached we realized that it was the “Pearl Tower of Beijing” or in other words the TV station tower... which you can go to the top (400 meters) and overlook the entire city and then eat lunch on a revolving floor (which was too expensive and Chinese for my taste.. they were serving Goose Liver). After taking pictures and looking at the city we left and got lost looking for the subway.. that’s when it started pouring down rain! Luckily we found a bank and needed money anyway so we just asked the bankers how to get to the metro. By the time we arrived at the metro, it stopped raining!
Saturday May 22, 2010
I can honestly say that Michael and I have seen so many things in Beijing that I can’t keep the days straight anymore! In addition to all of the major tourist attractions that Beijing offers Mike and I have visited many other “Chinese favorites” including the Beijing Zoo, the Planetarium, and even Happy Valley- an amusement park!! The amusement park is most likely one of the best things that I have done! It was a great way to get away from other tourists and it was so fun to wait in line for a ride that you had no idea about! Mike and I found this one ride that is much like the Ninja at Six Flags (dad that’s the one that held you upside down that the line was too long for). It was so awesome that Mike and I rode on it 2 times! The second time we decided to “photo bomb” the picture that the roller coaster takes.. but I guess the two Chinese people (the car holds 4 people) also decided to bomb it by looking at the 2 foreigners next to them! We ended up buying this picture of Mike and I making crazy faces and two Chinese people starting at us (they also bought one)! It was a really great day to go to the park, and there weren’t that many people by the end of the day, so it was great to not have long lines (it was funny because the park has workers to make sure that the Chinese people stay in line).
What is on the agenda for today? A Planetarium and hopefully the Olympic Stadium!
May 24th, 2010
Last night we boarded the train and left to come back to Hangzhou! I am excited to be back in Hangzhou, but things are much quieter here. The train ride was about 13 hours and it was interesting to get home with a huge suitcase that Michael and I bought to bring home some paintings. The suitcase was too big to fit in the compartment, so we had to hope the people wouldn’t mind it being in their way! The first couple rooming in the sleeper with us looked quite surprised.. at the suitcase AND the foreigners. They ended up asking two people to switch with them, and these two people were working on their PHD in English! Hurrah for being able to communicate! Other than that, for our last day in Beijing we were able to leave our luggage at the front desk of the hostel, so Michael and I just wandered around to waste 6 hours before we had to board the train.
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