first day in China!

Today was an absolutely amazing day! We started the day off with Tai Chi. THe Tai CHi was a form of martial arts where you are in complete control. It looks so easy when the masters do it but it is not so easy to do!So many local people gathered around to watch us, everyone in China is so friendly. Everyone here is so excited to see Americans it is great. After Tai Chi we headed into the Temple of Heaven these were groups of amazing buildings. It was an amazing complex. After the Temple we headed off to Tianenman Square. The square was gigantic, and filled with many people and guards. We took many pictures here before we headed off to lunch at a local restaurant. The restaurant was very good and tasted just like chinese food from jersey only much more fresh. The duck was definitely my favorite thing and the vegetables were great:) I tried so many vegetables I know my mom would love! Next we headed to the forbidden city. The city used to be forbidden and only the emperor and his people were allowed in. The forbidden city was definitely one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. It was gigantic and so much fun to walk through. The day was going great as we headed back to the bus, we all were ready for a nap and to go back to the hotel, except we still had one more activity , ping pong! I don't think any of us were expecting it to be as much fun as it was! It was the best part of the day:) we entered a room filled
with pingpong tables and many children playing each other, the coach handed us padels and soon we were playing with the chinese children. They were amazing and were a little frustrated that we were not so good. We got to practice with the olympic ping pong coach. When me and Caitlyn were done practicing we took a picture with the boy helping us. He was so nice and I told him I liked his bracelet which he then gave to me! It is so nice and has a jade symbol on it which Wendy(one of our guides) later told me is what the emperor gave to his empress or his concubine. It was so funny we laughed so hard! :) Everyone at the school was so much fun and really enjoyed being with Americans! It was so much fun and we had so many laughs! It was a great day! Can't wait for tomorrow! :)