Today, we visited the Forbidden City, the “White House” of China.  It was crazy walking through because it really was like a small city; it took over an hour to walk the entire thing.  It was a great experience to see The Forbidden City because it is an integral part of China’s history and represents hundreds of years of history.

After the visit, we ate a local restaurant.  One particular thing that stood out at the lunch was a dish that consisted of tomatoes and scrambled eggs.  This was the first time that I ate this type of dish in China, but it was incredible.

We also saw the Temple of Heaven and had a Taichi class.  This was sort of a cross between yoga and karate.  Although I struggled at first, I started to get the hang of it.  We all lined up in a shady area and he led the class.  It was quite peaceful and liberating; we even acquired a small crowd to watch us in action.  The temple was beautiful and showcased the rituals and traditions of Chinese culture.

In addition, I had the opportunity to try a local shop’s pork dumplings for 5 RMD (approximately 75 cents) and of course they were amazing.  Overall, the jam-packed day was fun, but the heat and walking got me quite tired.  I am ready to get a good night sleep, pack my bags, and make my way over to Xi’an!  It’s hard to believe I haven’t even been here a week and I have already been exposed to so much.  More to come soon!