Hey everybody, it's Meg! I was asked to write a post on my mom's blog about my trip to Beijing, China. I traveled to Beijing with my grade separated into 5 groups, so I traveled with about 40 other kids and 6-7 teachers. In this post you will find some of my adventures through an interesting city. While touring Beijing, I did many things. I went to a Chinese acrobat show, traveled through Tiananmen square, visited the Huiling center, walked across some of the Great Wall of China, Forbidden City, ate lots of Chinese food, visited a local village, a few temples and hutongs, did morning exercises, and went to the Pearl Market. We packed all of those activities into 5 days, and by the time I got back to Hong Kong I was ready for a full day of sleep.
Day one~
On the first day, I left my house and headed to the airport to catch my flight at noon. I arrived in Beijing at 3:00 in the afternoon. A tourist organization called WildChina picked up my group. We were separated by small groups. Small groups are groups of 7 or 8 kids and 1 teacher. We put our luggage into the bus and headed straight for dinner because it was already 5:00 in the evening. That night we ate at a chinese restaurant. Sadly, there was no sweet and sour chicken. There were many things to choose from the restaurant, including tofu noodles, sticky rice stuffed into lotus, lots of vegetables and a beef dish. Luckily, we had some white rice because after trying some of the lotus I wasn't willing to try anything else. After dinner, we went to a Chinese acrobat show. I had done some research on the show for my part of our Beijing travel show project, so I knew what to expect. The show demonstrated the lives of people in ancient China. At one part they showed the lives of rice farmers. They switched between the lives of the women and men. The outfits were used perfectly to describe the different classes of people.
Day two~
We started off the day by visiting Tiananmen Square. Tiananmen Square is very large and one of the most crowded places in Beijing. It is also one of the top tourist attractions. Tiananmen Square is right outside of the Imperial Palace, which we visited as well. The Imperial Palace, or Forbidden City, is where the Emperor used to live and is a really cool place to visit. It is called the Forbidden City because no one besides the Emperor and his workers were allowed into the Palace. Because of my blonde hair and blue eyes, many of the locals visiting the Imperial Palace wanted to take pictures with me and my friends who are American. There are many things to do in the Imperial Palace because there are a few museums, including the clock museum which shows all of the clocks that were a gift to China from places all over the world. Next, I went to the Huiling Center, which is a place were we engaged in performances and activities including crafts. The people at the Huiling Center are people who needed a special place to learn and interact with different people.
Day Three~
After a 3 hour drive, we arrived at Hexi Village, a village located near the Great Wall. We made dumplings and ate them while in the village. Next we hiked the Great Wall. The Great Wall was one of the most spectacular things I had ever seen. The hills went one for miles covered by the Great Wall and many Cherry Blossom trees. If you ever visit the Great Wall I suggest you go in the spring, because the hills are covered in cherry blossom trees blooming, and it is a beautiful sight. The great wall is a very difficult hike because the stairs are very deep and narrow and set at weird angles. You also have to watch your step because there is a strange drain system where there is bumps in the ground so the water doesn't over flow. But the Great Wall is something DEFINITELY worth seeing.
Day four~
We visited the Lama and Confucius temple. It was very interesting to see. The Lama temple is a Buddhist temple. It is home to the largest Buddha ever made, and it is made out of a single tree. The Confucius Temple is home to a college. We were taught the details of the temple by a few activities, including us going into a museum and writing down 2 truths and a lie about the Confucius religion. Next we went to a market to buy gifts for our activities the following day. We bought apples, strawberries, lotus seeds, and Chinese apricot. We also did a few activities including Chinese calligraphy, Chinese paper cutting, mask painting and Chinese games. After that we headed back to the hotel and watched "Karate Kid" and ate pizza.
Day five~
We started off the day with morning exercises including Taiqi, Chinese Yo-Yo's, Devil Sticks, Ribbon Dancing and kung fu. Then we went to the Temple of Heaven where we got to see the tallest buildings of the ancient times. It was used for the Emperor to pray for a good year and a good fortune. Then we went to the pearl market and bought some souvenirs. Then we went to the airport and headed back to Hong Kong.
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