Friday April 15, 2011

Jordan

Today was our last day in Beijing for a while. We started off our day with eye exercises to wake us up a little bit. The bus ride to Tiananmen square wasn’t that long, but as we entered the site we saw a line of people that looked as if it were the population of Vermont waiting to see Mao’s tomb. As we walked around, people from other cultures pulled us aside to take pictures with us. Surprisingly they were as excited to be in a picture with American’s as they were with guards who were walking throughout Tiananmen Square.

My favorite part about today was The Forbidden City. We had the opportunity to split into smaller groups andexplore it for ourselves. I felt as if we were able to take in everything that we were seeing and experiencing. My group saw an art exhibit by college students. The paintings were absolutely beautiful. We also used the time that we had to buy some ice cream. We decided to relax in the garden, and take some pictures.

After lunch we went to The Summer Palace.We walked to the top of Longevity Hill to the temple where we saw an extraordinary view of Beijing. While we were there we watched a man create animals, and flowers out of bamboo. We ended our day by taking a boat to one of the islands in the lake at The Summer Palace and with a delicious meal.