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Another amazing day in China!

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Today was again such an amazing day! :) So far China has been absolutely great, everyone here is so nice and everyone with Discovery is amazing! We are having so so much fun. Today started off with a trip to the Beijing Urban Planning Center. This was an amazing complex, it was the coolest museum I have ever been in. Inside were replicas of the entire city of Beijing and all the important buildings. It was really cool to learn what each building was. I found it really interesting that many of the buildings are shaped after different objects representing different things. My favorite was the park shaped like a dragon. While in the Planning Center we also watched a really cool 3D movie. It was a lot of fun and a really great place. After the Planning Center we headed to the Promenade where we did some shopping :) There were some really great stores. We had a lot of fun walking around and doing some shopping although we all wished we had some more time there. Next we went to a local village and did some shopping in small shops. These shops had very pretty authentic items. After shopping we had a very interesting lunch. Lunch was a Mongolian Hot Pot. We entered the room, to find a long table and a beautiful fondue pot in front of each person. Next the waitresses poured water into the top part, once it boiled we then took the various raw meat on the table and cooked it in the water. I was a little nervous to eat anything I cooked but I think I did a good job. We were given a great peanut sauce to dip the meat in which I loved. After that we split into two groups, my group headed to a local house first. The house was beautiful with a courtyard filled with flowers and even a pomegrante tree! The family was so sweet and welcomed us with traditional Chinese pastries. After this we switched with the other group to try some calligraphy. We went to a local artists' house where we were taught calligraphy right at his table! He had such beautiful art work hanging on the walls in his home. We learned how to draw the Chinese character meaning longevity. It was a little hard but definately fun! We got to take home our drawings and even keep the calligraphy pens. next we rode in hutongs! This was so much fun! The hutongs were so cool, me and caitlyn sat together and had a great time laughing and watching all the people we passed. Once we were off the hutongs we headed to the silk museum. This was a great place filled with many beautiful things! I couldn't believe how strong the silk was it was amazing! The shop there was great, and I got some great souvenirs. After that we ventured across the street to the "mall" , it turned out to be deserted except for a few cases filled with jewelry. However we did find one good thing,Mcdonalds! We were all definately happy to see a Mcdonalds and I enjoyed my chicken sandwhich and fries very much! We then had about an hour tp relax before dinner, it was good, but no one was very hungry because we had just eaten Mcdonalds. Once we got back to the hotel me and Caitlyn found ice cream! I was very excited to have my first ice cream in China! :) today was an overall amazing day! We did so many great things! Tomorrow we have another full day filled with exciting acitives! I can not wait to visit the water cube and see the lane where Michael Phelps swam<3 I am so excited and can not wait!! :)

2 comments:

Karen Wells said...

I have been reading all the blogs, and you are the first to talk about the pomegrante tree and the park shaped like a dragon. You must enjoy natural things and definitely have an eye for detail. Keep on blogging! Karen Wells DSA South Africa

RJ Stangherlin said...

I wonder what a pomegrante tree looks like and what traditional Chinese pastries taste like. Somehow I didn't connect Chinese and pastries together before your post. I'm enjoying your blog lots.

RJ Stangherlin
PA DEN Leadership Council Blog Coordinator

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Essential Programs Details

Duration 15 days
When August 4th - 18th, 2009
Focus History/Culture
Martial Arts
Modern/Ancient Architecture