China Part 1: Sightseeing Adventures
China..... the place where you step off of the plane in Beijing and immediately smell "it." THE China smell. If you have ever been anywhere in China, you know what I'm talking about. The place where the pushy people and loud voices let you know you're not in Southern USA anymore. For all of the weird and insanely quirky things about China there is something about it that I love. Even from the first time I went there as an eight year old to adopt Clara I felt and instant draw and a need to come back. That draw has only grown over the years.
As I walked into the hotel room we would be staying in for the next week and a half (I can't begin to explain a Chinese hotel room adequately, but take my word for it, it is quite horrendous) I immediately told my roommate "This will be my last trip to China for a while." But as I sit here typing this I already want to go back. China working it's voodoo magic again....
Despite the horrific smells and the fact that blue skies don't exist it has a very majestic and ancient beauty. I loved being able to do some sightseeing in Beijing the first few days we were there. We got to visit The Great Wall and The Summer Palace. I had been to The Great Wall before, but didn't remember much of it from my eight year old brain. It was truly amazing. A definite "core memory" as I like to call it. We rode a huge chairlift that went over a humongous ravine and I'm not even afraid of heights, but this chairlift had my heart beating a little faster than normal. The view was breathtaking. We walked a little bit on the Wall and took loads of pictures. I have an obsession with Chinese mountains and the close up view of them was spectacular. I'd love to hike a few of the mountains in China in the future.
The Summer Palace was lovely and full of history. Our tour guide (Jason) knew everything there was to know about both the Wall and the Palace and I learned so many amazing things that I had never known before. Chinese history is insanely interesting. One fun fact about the Wall was that it was not built as one long connected Wall as I had always believed. It was built in segments by different groups of people over the years. It was several separate walls that started being referred to as The Great Wall along the way. If you're ever in China DO NOT skip seeing this. It is something you don't want to miss and it's always nice being able to check off seeing one of the Man-Made Wonders of the World off of your list.
Fast forward a week and we went to Xi'an. It was a really nice break in between a long and tiring week of work at the center. We took a one hour high speed train trip (a really cool experience in and of itself) and got to stay in a really wonderful hotel. We walked into the lobby and they had somehow piped in the smell of cologne. My eyes actually watered at the smell of something so fresh after a week of smoggy and sweaty smells. Us Americans and our prudish ways. ;) We went to the famous Muslim Corner where there were tons of food stalls and places to buy souvenirs. As the night got later the more people came out to walk the streets and by the time we made our way through the maze of it all there were thousands of people crowding the streets. We made a single file line and held onto each others backpacks to make our way out of the crowd. I absolutely loved it. Something about all of the different food smells, loud chatter and random music playing made the it all the more fun. I love China at night.
After a glorious night in one of the softest beds ever we went to see the Terra-cotta Warriors. What an experience. If you have never heard of them, here's a little backstory. In 1974 a farmer was digging a well and kept coming across pieces of pottery like things. These were the terra-cotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. Their purpose was to protect him in his afterlife. They date all the way back to 209 B.C. More than 700,000 laborers worked on the sculptures. They all have different faces, body builds and even varied all the way down to the tread on their shoes. I had chill bumps the whole time we were there. Truly unbelievable. I wish we had more time in Xi'an because it was a beautiful city with so much history. I would love to go back someday.
Here are some pictures I took! They don't even begin to do it all justice, but they do help give you an idea of the spectacular beauty of China.
As I walked into the hotel room we would be staying in for the next week and a half (I can't begin to explain a Chinese hotel room adequately, but take my word for it, it is quite horrendous) I immediately told my roommate "This will be my last trip to China for a while." But as I sit here typing this I already want to go back. China working it's voodoo magic again....
Despite the horrific smells and the fact that blue skies don't exist it has a very majestic and ancient beauty. I loved being able to do some sightseeing in Beijing the first few days we were there. We got to visit The Great Wall and The Summer Palace. I had been to The Great Wall before, but didn't remember much of it from my eight year old brain. It was truly amazing. A definite "core memory" as I like to call it. We rode a huge chairlift that went over a humongous ravine and I'm not even afraid of heights, but this chairlift had my heart beating a little faster than normal. The view was breathtaking. We walked a little bit on the Wall and took loads of pictures. I have an obsession with Chinese mountains and the close up view of them was spectacular. I'd love to hike a few of the mountains in China in the future.
The Summer Palace was lovely and full of history. Our tour guide (Jason) knew everything there was to know about both the Wall and the Palace and I learned so many amazing things that I had never known before. Chinese history is insanely interesting. One fun fact about the Wall was that it was not built as one long connected Wall as I had always believed. It was built in segments by different groups of people over the years. It was several separate walls that started being referred to as The Great Wall along the way. If you're ever in China DO NOT skip seeing this. It is something you don't want to miss and it's always nice being able to check off seeing one of the Man-Made Wonders of the World off of your list.
Fast forward a week and we went to Xi'an. It was a really nice break in between a long and tiring week of work at the center. We took a one hour high speed train trip (a really cool experience in and of itself) and got to stay in a really wonderful hotel. We walked into the lobby and they had somehow piped in the smell of cologne. My eyes actually watered at the smell of something so fresh after a week of smoggy and sweaty smells. Us Americans and our prudish ways. ;) We went to the famous Muslim Corner where there were tons of food stalls and places to buy souvenirs. As the night got later the more people came out to walk the streets and by the time we made our way through the maze of it all there were thousands of people crowding the streets. We made a single file line and held onto each others backpacks to make our way out of the crowd. I absolutely loved it. Something about all of the different food smells, loud chatter and random music playing made the it all the more fun. I love China at night.
After a glorious night in one of the softest beds ever we went to see the Terra-cotta Warriors. What an experience. If you have never heard of them, here's a little backstory. In 1974 a farmer was digging a well and kept coming across pieces of pottery like things. These were the terra-cotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. Their purpose was to protect him in his afterlife. They date all the way back to 209 B.C. More than 700,000 laborers worked on the sculptures. They all have different faces, body builds and even varied all the way down to the tread on their shoes. I had chill bumps the whole time we were there. Truly unbelievable. I wish we had more time in Xi'an because it was a beautiful city with so much history. I would love to go back someday.
Here are some pictures I took! They don't even begin to do it all justice, but they do help give you an idea of the spectacular beauty of China.
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