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Published: October 2nd 2012
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Birds Nest
Olympic Stadium Crazy to think that it has been a week since I left Canada! I already feel like so much has happened. So, 3 days after being in Beijing, my friend Carla came to visit. She is teaching English in a city in China, and this is her week off, so herself and 4 other English teachers came to Beijing with her. I went from being by myself to a group of 6 for the next week. Such a switch, because I was already in "alone" mode, and now, it is a whole group of people to consider and organize. Needless to say, it has been really nice and fun to see the city with friends and experience the sights not alone.
And speaking of places to see....THE GREAT WALL! That is quite the wall! Over 7,000 km long, and 2000 years old, I understand why it is one of the 7 wonders of the world. Those men who guarded it way back when must have had legs of steel, because I can hardly walk today (so many stairs). We were lucky enough to get a perfect day, with no clouds or smog. And the way to get down from the
Tiananmen square
Notice the sky and how many people are there?! wall, there is a metal slide and you sit on this sketchy tobaggan and just rip down the side of the mountain for 5 minutes. I'm sure the original builders and their intention for the wall was not to have a bunch of tourists sliding down on a metal slide, but that being said, it was pretty fun!
Speaking of smog...it is time to leave this city! When I arrived, there was a big wind/storm and it blew the pollution away, so here I was, just walking around thinking that the blue sky is normal... nope! I have never been in a place with that much visible pollution. It its like you burnt your toast in a small kitchen...Imagine that for an entire city. Apparently, when the Olympics were here 4 years ago, they shut down a lot of factories a month before, just to cut back on how much pollution would be in the air.
I just got back from visiting the Tienanmen square and forbidden city. So much history there, but to be honest, I was quite overwhelmed by the masses of people. The advice of staying away during the national holiday in china is not
bad advice. Literally, the ordeal of getting there and back took 4 hours (where it should have normally taken maybe 1), and I hobbled out of the subway station bleeding, disoriented and getting dirty looks (because my cold has now turned into a SARS cough). Note to self, do not wear flip flops and bring cough syrup to China. I went into a store to get some medicine, and got these weird little black seed/balls. Made my tongue go numb and swollen. Hey, if I cant breath, I certainly can't cough!
Ohhh, this is neat! If you are a tennis fan, you'll be impressed. I went to the China Open and watched Maria Sharapova play a match (apparently she is ranked #2 in the world). That was totally random, but I'm a fan of any live sporting events.
One thing that continually makes me laugh is how many times people try to take our picture (sneakily) and STARE!! I would say of the thousands of people I've seen, I could probably count on 10 fingers (I say that like I somehow have more than 10) non asian people (other than being at the hostel). I can understand why people stare, because its only been a week, and I saw a blond person walking down the street, and I totally crained my neck till they were out of view.
Overall, Beijing has been the perfect starting place. Met people I will never forget, seen so many beautiful places (the Summer palace & temple of heaven... wonderful!), tasted peking duck (Beijing is known for this..its good!), and now onto Shanghai on the fast train tomorrow morning. Lets hope my experience getting on that train is full of fun, because it is probably sold out beyond capacity 😊
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Aunt Jaclyn
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Sounds just wonderful, Darc! And kinda weird and not always comfortable. Just the way travel to new places is supposed to be. How's the food? I've heard it is very different from what one expects. Are you going to see Chuck and Judy? I'm geographically challenged so I don't know where they are in relation to where you are going. Pray for Rae, please. About what we talked about this summer. May God cover you and protect you and fill your life with joy and purpose. Love you.