So I only have about 2 and a half days left in China. Where does time fly by so quickly?! These past few days have been more relaxing, since we have been situated in Beijing for quite some time now. Keith and I have visited Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and a bunch of parks/temples… oh and how could I forget.. The Great Wall!!!! (my favorite absolute favorite part of the whole trip easily thus far)
The Great Wall was absolutely fjdaiofjsdijfas awesome. I can’t even describe it. We went to a section called Mutianyu which was very nicely restored from towers 1 to about 22. After that, the Great Wall was in its original shape- broken down with bricks crumbling off the sides of the mountain, but nevertheless a little path could be found with overgrown with bushes that you had to push through. We got to tower 28 which was completely run down and wanted to continue forward (we like the less touristy areas),but we were with a tourist group and time was quickly running out. We had to turn back and we miraculously made the whole entire trek back within about an hour and a half (and only were about 30 min late).
At the Great Wall they also have cable cars to take you up to tower 14 to begin your trek there; however, it costs extra money that Keith and I don’t really have… so we had to trek up the hard way by intense stairs which was A okay with me, legs are just a tad bit sore now lol. There is also a toboggan ride down from one of the towers, which apparently is extremely fun, but on the day that we went it was closed. Also, although the visibility was poor at times, I could not have envisioned any other better weather. It was cool and misty which felt wonderful while trekking along the Great Wall. We talked to a few friends we made at the hostel who went when it was sunny and hot, and they definitely were sweating gallons. The Great Wall was truly amazing, I wish I had more time to explore and go further through the parts that were unrestored. If I ever come back to China, I would try to go on the Great Wall without a tour group, so that way I could spend even more time up in the mountains :)
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| Forbidden City |
I guess being on this trip has made me realize I don’t exactly like to do the necessary “touristy” things. Of course I feel compelled to see certain things such as the Great Wall, Forbidden city, Temple of Heaven, etc. because these are monumental historical spots that have so much history behind them and reveal so much about the culture, but for me I personally like the not so “sight-seeing” parts of the trip. My favorite so far has been the Great Wall, but what I loved doing as well was walking to parks and interacting with the people there. At the parks, older men and women play board games (I can’t remember the name of the specific one I am thinking about), they sing together and bring their instruments out to play for the fun of it. They have huddles in the middle of the paths discussing deep philosophical ideas. They teach ballroom dancing to others- Keith and I got invited to dance with a few locals and they taught us a few steps, just out in the park on a sunny day. It’s this community feeling that I feel is missing from the States.
It might be the area that I live in, but when I think of for example Independence Grove I see people running with their headphones in concentrated on what they are doing. There are families as well, but do we see families who are strangers interacting with one another? I’m pretty sure it is very uncommon to see that. Fathers play badminton with their sons, even grandpas are out flying their kites watching them soar through the sky here. Even though I have only been here for two weeks and couldn't even possibly grasp the culture here in this time, I still think I have seen something that is missing for me back at home- simply the sense of community between neighbors, between families, between everyone as a whole. Of course ways of life are different everywhere you go, but I think love, family, and friends are the most important we have.
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| Sunset at Summer Palace |
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