Beijing

We just had our weekend in Beijing.

Here are the things we did:

-We visited Tiananmen Square

-We saw Mao Ze Dong's mummified body--- I can't believe they love the guy so much.
-We went into the Forbidden City (which isnt that forbidden after all)

-We then went to the Summer Palace which is a beautiful Summer retreat for Emperor's
-We then got to see some of China's treasured Beijing Opera, which actually turned out to be cool because they did some sweet acrobatic stuff.

-Then the next day we traversed the Great Wall, unfortunately it was an extremely foggy day and you couldn't see past 100 meters, otherwise I'm sure the views would have been amazing. But like they say in China, you're not a true man unless you have visited the Great Wall.

-We also got to see some of the Olympic venues-- from a far though because they do not let you near any of it. The "Bird Nest" stadium is really funky looking-- it sure lives up to its nickname.
-We also went to this tea store where they pitched us this really cool presentation to get us to buy there tea. We got to taste test a whole bunch and they taught us some tricks and cool facts about some of the teas. I ended up buying a whole bunch, my favorite being this tea cup that the picture on it transforms when you add hot water--- it's chinese magic.


Last Friday night a whole bunch of us went out to a "KTV" bar. (Karoeke). It was a whole lot of fun-- we couldnt sing any Chinese songs, but our friend Jiao serenated us with some sweet chinese tunes. They had a bunch of English songs which we all took part in belting out in perfect pitch and harmony. We had our own private room for the night and were treated like VIPS for less then 20 american dollars each.. It was awesome. We are planning a trip back there sometime this week.

We are halfway through the program. It's been an amazing experience so far and I'm sure there is more to come.

I should be able to get pictures up tomorrow-- I think I just learned how, except I forgot to bring my camera with me to the computer lab.

-Lu Jie Ti