Bejing Continued

Hey Everyone! Sorry for the lack of journals.  I have been very busy these past three days.

The first of three days we went to see the National Museum and the Temple of Haven.  The Temple of Heaven was cool, but the National Museum was very powerful. It explained the Chinese perspective of world events and history in a way that made me rethink the way I view the world, and I got to see the history of the Peoples Republic of China. 

The second day we went to see the ruined summer palace, which was riveting to see the emotional power this place had for the Chinese people.  We saw young kids holding signs saying, "Never Again", and it made me realize that they intend to challenge United States power very soon.  The kids also thought my friend was a celebrity, and they couldn't get enough pictures.

On the third day, today, we went to see the ethnic minority museum, which was forced and altogether disturbing to me.  Then we went to the night market.  There I ate a bunch of different foods, including a scorpion!  I couldn't stay long though, it was too claustrophobic.

Finally Made It - Bejing and Beyond

Monday 15 May 
 
Hello everyone! Finally arrived in Beijing after a grueling 16 hours of non-stop flying. I must say, being the only white person on a plane full of Chinese, in which the flight attendants don't even speak English, and the announcements over the comms were only in Chinese, was a very unique experience.  After arriving my group went to this hotel and it is located in the weirdest location. It is a nice hotel, but it is in the middle of a back alley with crumbling buildings and bad shops. Love it. 

Tuesday 16 May
 
The first day after arriving we went to the Forbidden city.  It was weird because the president of China drove by in his convoy. Talk about a close encounter. The forbidden palace itself was underwhelming. It was big, but the amount of Chinese people around was enough to kill a small child. Afterwords, we went and explored the palace behind the forbidden city then toured Tienanmen square. Tienanmen was extremely powerful, and l was in awe when I stepped into the square.
 
Wednesday 17 May

The food here is in china is amazing. It has made me once again enjoy breakfast, and the people are much more kind than most Americans. I am excited to see what tomorrow will bring.

Today we went to see the summer palace. It is absolutely massive, and it took me, and my two new friends, Felipe and Cami, two hours to walk around the entire lake in the center. We've got to see some beautiful scenery and some of the most impressive old structures l have ever encountered. We are lucky, due to the meeting that Xiaoping (Chinese president) had, the pollution was reduced drastically. It has been great air quality for the past three days. Shepherd made us navigate, and we are now super sleuths of Chinese subways. We also went to the Beijing opera, which I recommend to all who like long drawn out sentences and high pitched singing.

Thursday 18 May

Hello guys!  Welcome back to today's episode of China today!  I went to the Great Wall today, and oh boy it hurt to get to the top.  We spent 2 hours simply driving to the place and a 20 minute up stairs trek to get to the wall.  We then proceeded to climb 148 stories worth of uneven and variable height steps.  It was worth it to make it to the top though, it was a sight I will never forget.  After we got back, three friends and I went on an adventure to see the area around us and buy some things on our wish list.  It was great, and we all are going to sleep, only to get up at 3:00 am tomorrow to see the changing of the guard.  
 

On my way to China

Hi everyone,
     Its been a long time since we've updated this blog.  We had adventures in Europe this past summer (2016), and Shannon is going with mom and dad to New York for graduation this summer, and I am on my way to China in less than a week.  I will be there for 9 weeks.  And I'm so excited.  Keep up with my adventures here at PikeySkootcher.blogspot.com!
Cya soon,
Thomas