Beijing, China (day 3)

March 14, 2018

Getting settled to a different time zone is really challenging, especially when it’s 15 hours ahead. Thankfully, the plane ride and a whole day of walking really helped me fall asleep right away.

Today was one of my favorite days because we did many interesting things. The first thing we did in the morning was visit the Bird’s Nest, where the 2008 olympics were held. We were staying at the hotel right across the street so it wasn’t a far distance.

Right after about an hour of exploring, we hopped on the bus and headed out to the jade factory, one of the largest in China . The Chinese believe that jade connects the heavens to the Earth. And here we got an inside look on how they carve out statues, jewelry and other items from a jade rock. It’s quite an interesting process and of course I couldn’t stop myself from buying something.

After the jade factory and lunch, we headed out to the Great Wall. I can obviously say this is one of the main highlights of this trip. Arriving, I didn’t realize how strenuous the climb was. To climb it’s knees to chest for most of the steps, and I am 5’7″. But, even with a hell of an exercise, I am happy to cross one of the seven wonders of the world off my bucket list.

Exhausted from climbing the Great Wall, half of the group split and we headed out to watch a show called The Golden Mask Dynasty. It was located inside an amusement park called Happy Place, Beijing’s largest amusement park. It is an incredible and beautiful dramatic musical. Everything from the stage to the costume and makeup was phenomenal. Live white peacocks even made an appearance. But, truly the production left me speechless.

The day was long but very interesting. I’d have to say that Beijing really has fascinated and impressed me in the two days of being here. Stay tuned for more blog posts on the rest of my trip.