Ten Days Trip

Part of the Study Abroad to China includes a ten-day trip touring China in the middle of the two blocks. We left on October 21 and we got back on October 31. It was sooooo much fun. We saw tons but it was not overwhelming. There was a excellent balance of culture and recreation; you can only see so many different Buddhist temples before they start to look the same. We first went to a city called Luo Yang and saw a famous temple where they study martial arts. We saw people throw nails through glass and amazing acrobatics. We also went to Xi'an and saw the Terra-cotta warriors. They are 2,200 years old. Our country's history has nothing to compare. We also went to Beijing where we saw Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Ming Tombs, the Great Wall, and some amazing shopping. Here are the pictures of our adventure: (The first couple are before the trip. Our turtle, Enrique, and a visit to a culture village.)

The left picture was when I went into a big bubble and rolled around on top of a lake. It was super fun but really tiring.

The right is an embarrassing picture of me when I dressed up for Salsa dancing. Trip: The other two pictures are of the Long Men Caves. They are Buddhist caves that are over 1500 years old.

More ancient Buudhas, my first attempt at a French braid, and my tandem bicycle experience on the top of the Xi'an city wall (100's of years old).

These are the Terra-cotta warriors. They are over 2200 years old. They were originally painted and each held a different weapon. Their purpose was to guard the emperor's reign after his death. They have found over 6,000 warriors to date.

This is a room of stone tablets that have Confucius' writings on them some 600 years old. The dinner-dance show had some crazy looking dumplings and some interesting dances.

Tiananmen Square and the scenes from the Forbidden City.

Our retreat at Hard Rock Cafe Beijing, our friends with similar hats at the summer palace and my adventure on a dragon boat.

This is the inside of the Temple of Heaven where the Emperor would go twice a year and communicate with God. The others are pictures of the Great Wall with the autumn colors.

More pictures of the Great Wall.

You can kind of see how steep it is and this is my friend Bethany.