Day 3 - Beijing

On Monday morning we had a 6:30am wake up, with the intention of being in the lobby and ready to head to the Great Wall by 7:30. This was not made a reality as we got distracted by breakfast and the supermarket in the lobby which meant we only left at around 8am.

After an hour drive, we got to the Great Wall and purchased tickets for a round trip, up the chair lift and down on the toboggan. Once up on the wall, starting at the 6th gate, we climbed in groups, the fastest girls and Mr. Pearce reaching the 16th gate before walking back down to the start where we were to take the toboggan down.

On the wall we enjoying incredible views of the mountains and the group walking with Huang Lao Shi endured many group photos and a Great Wall Nut-bush performance.

By the time we all got to the bottom it was time for lunch. After a very fulfilling lunch we drove another 1 and a half hours to the Summer Palace and despite the crowds, enjoyed hearing about the history of the palace and the 5 palace that were burnt down along the invasion of the French and the British. Outside the palace, we were intrigued and somewhat put off by the stall selling scorpions, spiders, starfish and other strange creatures on sticks, some still alive.

At the palace most of us enjoyed dressing up as emperors and princesses and hearing the tour guide bargaining with the shop keeper in an attempt to get a better deal. After another walk through the palace grounds we took a boat across the river then took the bus to the Olympic village. After looking at the view of the birds nest and water cube, and many tourist photos we ended the day with some souvenir shopping before going to dinner. 

For dinner we enjoyed a Peking duck banquet, one of 3 famous dishes of Beijing, these being peking duck, hot pot and Zha Jiang noodles.


After dinner we sang Happy Birthday to Hannah, as we celebrated her birthday 3 days early with a cake, while her sister was still with us. After a long and full day we went back to our hotel room and began packing our things for our check out and last day in Beijing the next day.
 (Holly Schutz)