We began the day at the Olympic Park viewing the Big Birds
Nest stadium and seeing the aquatic center.
The size of the park was immense, and I can only imagine how many people
were here for the games in 2008. The
buildings were closed, however, so we couldn’t see them from the inside. But that didn’t matter. Despite the overcrowding in Beijing and China
and general, they can still make space for large areas like this.
After the Olympic area, we went to visit the jade
museum. The jewelry and art was quite
incredible, and many of the students purchased gifts for friends and family.
Then it was the event that all of us were waiting for. Climbing the Great Wall of
China. Terry began his description of
the great wall by saying “When we arrive, you will notice that to one side, the
wall is very steep. When you look to the
other side, the wall is even steeper.”
In other words, we were climbing no matter what. It was a phenomenal hike. We took our pictures, sang as a choir, got
our exercise and worked to get to the top.
Even Shanlyn, who has had a boot on her leg all tour, managed to climb
to the top of the wall. She wasn’t going
to miss it for anything. At the top of
the mountain, we rested, and took even more pictures. The way down was much easier.
Everyday on this tour has been one exciting adventure after
another. It’s hard to believe that we
have only been here one week. We have
done and seen so much. It’s somewhat
fortuitous that we’ve travelled through China in this order as well. Originally we were supposed to end in
Shanghai. We’ve learned that they are
suffering from a large typhoon right now.
Thankfully our weather has been fantastic this whole tour.
For dinner we had our Peking Duck. They brought out a couple of ducks and carved
them in front of us. The carver took his
time and was very precise with his he cut it.
The precision and efficiency the Chinese people display on a routine
basis is also very impressive. We’ve
certainly noticed that. They take
incredible pride in their work, their discipline, and traditions. We could learn something from that.
At the end of the day, myself, Philip, and Leanne had
decided to give the chaperones the night off.
They have been working incredibly hard and deserved a break. The kids were fine with it, and the three of
us took on chaperone duties for the night.
The kids were great, the chaperones let loose for an evening, and we all
got to bed exhausted from a very long, amazing day.
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