Beijing for Life!

Our first stop in Beijing was the Forbidden city and Tiananmen Square. It was amazing to see where the Emperor's lived. There is so much history here you can't take it in in one day. We were lucky to get a tour guide for a really good deal. He was very knowledgable and took us to every part of the "city." There are symbols of one kid or another from the slanting roofs to the animal sculptures you see in the area. As you can see in the picture there were tons of people in Tiananmen Square that day. October 1st (the day we were there) is a national holiday for China and I think everyone decided to go to the Forbidden City. I didn't think that many people could fit in one place at one time. I couldn't even move as I was trying to get into the front doors because so many people were trying to get in at the same time. The Chinese don't believe in personal space... well, I guess they don't have a choice becasue there are so many people.

The next stop... The Great Wall. Our tour guide from the Forbidden City had a friend that has a taxi service. His friend was able to give us a ride to the Great Wall for a great price in our own personal little car. We were stoked because we didn't want to have to go with a group in a tour bus that would take three or four more hours out of our day. So we took advantage of the offer. We arrived at the Great Wall in two hours, thanks to the crazy fast driver. The Great Wall was breathtaking! I can't believe I actually stood on the Great Wall. It goes on forever. We hiked up the wall and it was a hike for sure. We had to walk up the huge hills the wall covers and stairs that never seemed to end. Most of the time I felt like we were walking the wrong way becasue majority of the people were walking down, and we were walking up. We hiked up and around the Great Wall for about two hours and then we rode a zip line back down to the bottom.

The next day we went to the Summer Palace. There we were able to take this cute Chinese pictures. The black headbands the girls are wearing signify a princess. You can buy these headbands at any tourist place you visit. Little girls wore them everywhere. I guess it is similar to a crown in America. The Chinese people never smile in pictures, so we decided to be like the Chinese and not smile. The Summer Palace was beautiful. There were tons of Chinese temples and a beautiful lakes with bridges over them. The bridges in China are so beautifuly crafted and most are made out of stone. It is a sight to see. The palace has the largest royal park and it has been very well preserved. The temples shown have beautiful carpentry and vibrant colors to see.


Our last stop in Beijing was the Olympic parks. We tried to get tickets to go inside but were sad to find all the tickets were sold out. I guess the tickets to go inside the Birds Nest were sold out a week before the vacation. Luckily there were tons of scalpers there selling the tickets. Most of them wanted outrageous prices for the tickets, but we finally talked one guy into giving them to us for 70 RMB. The tickets were 50 RMB, so he only made 20 off of us. He was so mad that we were good barginers and got a great deal off of him. We just just smiled our cute American smiles and then he was happy again. He even took a picture with us before we went into the Birds Nest. Inside the nest, most of the costumes from the opening cermonies were on display with pictures behind the costumes showing when they were used. It was so neat to see the costumes up close, each one had tons of details. The opening cermonies was even playing on huge screens in the arena. It was so cool to actually be inside the Birds Nest where only a month before althlets were competing to be the best in the world. At night the Birds Nest was lit up with red and yellow lights. It was so cool. The Watercube was beautiful at night as well. It was lit up with blue lights and then at random times it would change colors. I'm so happy that I was able to see where the Olympics were held.


I loved every minute of Beijing. There was good American food everywhere you turned. I tried to eat it the whole time I was there because you can only find it in the bigger cities. We found a Cold Stone, TGI Friday's, Outback Steakhouse, and a Subway. I sure miss American food. The hostel we stayed in was a blast as well. There were so many nice people there that were willing to help you out with whatever you needed. We went out to dinner one night with people we just ramdomly met in the game room. The room we stayed in fit 10 people in all; three of our roommates were from Sweden. I met so many people from all over the world in Beijing. Everyone in China is so nice and kind, the people are always looking to make a friend. You stop to ask for directions and end up talking to that person for twenty mionutes. The other fun thing about China is you are really a celebrity. Every place we went there were people that would come up to us and ask us if they could take a picture with us. It was so funny. After a while we got sick of smiling because so many people wanted pictures. When it was time to go home I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay in Beijing even longer. Everyday was filled with fun things to go and do and see. It was worth every cent I spent!