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April 9th 2010
We are back in Beijing. Today was the last day before we leave back to the US tomorrow. We went to the drum tower. It used to tell time for everyone in the city and people will drum every 30 minutes. They still do a drum show that was really cool. We went to the Summer Palace that was a home for the emperor. It was built in the late 1700’s. It was burned down in 1860 in the Opium Wars and rebuilt in 1888. Empress Xiao-Qin Xian built it for herself instead of spending the money on defense for China. Then the Boxer Rebellion happened and the Summer Palace was burned down again in. The Summer Palace was rebuilt in 1902. The summer palace is huge. It had a lake next to it and had ... read more
April 8th 2010
Today we went to Xian to see the Terra-cotta Warriors. We first woke up early to fly there from Beijing. It took about 1 ½ hours to get there. We were almost late for the flight. When we got there, we headed straight to the warriors. For lunch, we went to KFC. The KFC in China is very different from the KFC in the US. We got a tour guide who was really good. We learned that the warriors were supposed to guard the tomb and be an army in the afterlife. The people working there are still putting the clay warriors back together. After the emperor Qin Shihuang died, rebels burned the tunnel and roof of the rooms that the warriors were in. The roofs held up lots of dirt and soil. When the roof ... read more
April 7th 2010
Today we went to the Great Wall. The part of the Great Wall we went to is called the Mutlanyu Great Wall. We went to this part even though it is a little further away because we heard there are less tourists and the Great Wall splits there. We climbed about 1000 steps and walked for about 3 hours. The Great Wall has been restored to the original state. We climbed to the top of the mountian and was the unrestored Great Wall. I was amazed on how they built it on the steep mountains and how long it is. It was built during the Qin Dynasty about 200 BC. On the pictures, you will notice that Spring hasn't arrived yet here, the leaves are not green. One fun part was we took a slide down ... read more
April 6th 2010
Today was our first day in Beijing. First, we went to Tinamin square. It is in front of the Forbidden City. That’s where the guards and walls used to be. Then we went inside the Forbidden City. It had tons of gates. Common people were not allowed through those gates unless had very special permission. The Forbidden City used to be a palace for the emperor. The Forbidden City is HUGE!!!!! It was used between 1400- 1924AD. Then we went to the US embassy. We then talk to the ambassador from the US, John Huntsman and toured the embassy. The embassy was the 2nd biggest US embassy in the world. The first one is Iraq!!! Next we went to the old parts of Beijing called the Hutong district. We rode around in a rickshaw, that is ... read more
April 5th 2010
Our last day in the country in southern China. We took my aunt's Tibetian dogs on a walk again in the morning through the rice fields. We then packed and left for the airport another 2 hour ride there and then another 3 hour plane ride to Beijing. We haven't seen Beijing yet because we arrived at 8pm at night when it was dark.... read more
April 4th 2010
Today we took a 2 hour ride to church in the city of Guangzhou. Guangzhou is the third largest city in China with about 10 million people. It didn't seem as many skyscrapers as Hong Kong but it is as big. We went to a great french restaurant in town and had a 5 course meal. We than went to a jade market in town. There were lots and lots of shops. We bargained for a good price on jade.... read more
April 3rd 2010
Today we went and saw the crags in China. But before that, we went to a real Chinese restaurant. They let you choose the live fish that you are about to eat. They also had snakes that you can eat. I learned that in south china they eat everything that is edible. My aunt picked some food from the menu and they were delicious or as the Chinese say, “ hen hao chr”. Luckily, I didn’t get sick. Then we saw the Seven Star crags. There are the mountains that you see in old Chinese paintings. Millions of years ago, the area were the crags are, used to be an ocean. The ocean formed limestone which the mountains are made of. Over time, water dissolves with the lime stone and washes parts of the mountains away. ... read more
April 2nd 2010
This morning, my aunt, Emily and I, walked her Tibetan dogs The Chinese were looking at us because we are the only Americans here. We saw lots rice fields. The rice was partly submerged in water. They were growing white rice. The people throw their garbage out on the streets. Sometimes, they will burn their trash. After walking the dogs, we went to a school. We told them about our schools and gave them American candy. They had never seen an American teen before. They were asking me how tall I was because I was taller than the adults. They were shocked when I said my mom drives me to school because they walk or bike for 1-4 miles. The school had no computers. The kids spoke good English because they were learning it. The school ... read more
April 1st 2010
Sorry for the errors on the last one, I sent it before I was finished. Here is a remake and some other things added that I forgot. Today we left Hong Kong and took a train into China. We went through the country side. Now I really feel I’m in a foreign country!! There were lots of rice fields and shrimp farms. The houses were made of wood bamboo and scrap metal for roofs. We took a long time at customs. A police officer was checking my visa a lot of times. Then we had a driver who spoke no English. Luckily, he was the right driver. We took a van to a huge store. They had fish alive in tanks and dead on the shelves. At my aunt's apartment, they welcomed us with a fire ... read more
March 31st 2010
This morning we took a tour boat ride around the Hong Kong bay. I learned some things about the history of Hong Kong. It is now owned by China. It was turned over to China from the Britians in 1997. Hong Kong is not and never was communist. Hong Kong means fragrant harbor. A part of Hong Kong is callled Koloon. That means 9 dragons because of there are 8 mountains and the emperor which were considerd dragons. We also went to a peak to look at the veiw. It looked awesome. Then we looked at a light show at night that had lasers that lit up from the buildings.... read more
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