Today was our day for touring Hong Kong. Our hotel is on the Kowloon Peninsula, north of Hong Kong island and this morning we took the subway underwater to Hong Kong. We got off and searched for Victoria Park, the biggest public park in Hong Kong. Once we found it we walked around inside for about an hour, it's a really big park with trees and jogging paths, a swimming pool, a courtyard, tennis, basketball, and soccer courts. I had my second breakfast in a small restaurant right outside. Some authentic dim sum and beef with rice. We didn't really have a plan for seeing Hong Kong, so we just played it by year. All the locals speak Cantonese and usually they either speak English or Mandarin so either Jie or I can communicate with them. ... read more

This morning we woke up at 5:30am to dodge traffic to the airport, and it actually worked. It was a 4 hour flight from Beijing to Hong Kong, so I tried to sleep but didn't end up getting very much. By the time we were flying lower, and I could see the Ocean, I didn't want to sleep. The view from the plane was amazing. Most travellers are probably used to similar scenes, but I'm not. I loved seeing the islands on the way to Hong Kong, tiny islands with mountains all over them. Then we saw Hong Kong. I had no idea there were so many mountains! I expected the huge skyscrapers of course but from the air you see that the mountains have an even more dominant appearance. We flew into Kowloon, Bruce Lee's ... read more

One of the buildings that sits in Tian'anmen Square is Mao Zedong's mausoleum. I'm actually surprised we were able to see it because tons of mishaps have stopped us so far; I got sick, its only open from 8-12 in the morning, and today it was raining, but we toughed it out anyways. Mao obviously didn't want an American visiting his body, but after waiting for an hour, in the line that loops around the building, we got in. After climbing the front stairs into the building you see a statue of Mao in the first room. People stop to give flowers and some of them bow to the former revolutionist. The line breaks into two, left and right, around the statue to go into the next room, "the solemn hall of last respects". There sits ... read more

Today was our day to see the Great Wall of China! Unfortunately the traffic was horrible in the mountains and came to a standstill for about 2 hours because of a wreck but we got there and climbed it! We went to the Ba Da Ling entrance and climbed the highest side (you can go left or right). I had no idea how steep some parts of the wall are but I guess it has to be since its on top of a mountain. Some of the ramparts we walked were so steep that not many people would even try them, but we went all the way to the end (they block off some of the wall, so we came to one of these parts). It was great, probably my favorite place in China so far. ... read more

The Old Summer Palace known as the Gardens of Perfect Brightness, were destroyed and burned down by Anglo French forces in 1860. The Garden of Clear Ripples (renamed the Summer Palace after it was destroyed by Anglo French forces) was constructed between 1115-1234 during the Jin dynasty, was a luxurious garden that the Emporer would visit during the summer. We visited both the old and new Summer Palaces of Beijing today and had a lot of fun seeing them both. Definately my favorite gardens so far. The Summer Palace was situated around a lake, (not polluted! the first body of water in China I have seen yet that was unpolluted!) and you could walk all the way around it. We didn't have time but I'd like to see the rest of it if I ever come ... read more