Today opened up with me waking up at four AM due to jet lag followed by me immediately going back to sleep and reawakening at around ten minutes until 7. The food here is amazing! After waking up, I went down and enjoyed a great breakfast which consisted of everything from really thick greasy bacon to yogurt that I drank with a straw and a weird fruit that I am still not sure what it is. Following breakfast, we all boarded the bus heading to The Great Wall of China and learned a lot about the history of the wall through our tour guide, Joe. Upon arrival, we were all given the choice between walking the stairs up to the wall or taking a lift up. I chose to take the stairs which was incredibly hard but fun. I remember thinking at the beginning, “this won’t be that bad, I’m fit” and I was so wrong. Even though the trek was hard, we all shared so many laughs and, in the end, it felt even better about arriving at the beautiful peak.
The first thought that came to my mind on the wall was “wow, this is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life”. Being on the Great Wall of China was one of the best experiences of my entire life. Every stop and picture I took on the wall is beautiful, and I had so much fun experiencing all of it. At one point in the wall we were able to go onto the top of one of the watch towers where we took pictures and I got one of my favorite pictures of Jon and I doing the titanic pose on the side of the wall.
In order to leave the wall, we had to take a toboggan ride down to the base which was a lot of fun. After leaving, we went to a local restaurant where we ate lunch which was phenomenal! My favorite dish there was a teriyaki-ish eggplant mixed. All the food there was great and such a delicious experience in local cuisine.
Following lunch, we traveled to the Summer Palace and learned the history of the dragon lady which was extremely interesting. At the Summer Palace, we saw a large amount of beautiful historical sights including a huge Buddhist statue which was not allowed to be photographed. Finally, the whole group met up to take a picture in front of the marble boat which is a boat made completely out of marble.
To end the day, we all went to a hot pot restaurant which was an extremely unique experience. To eat the food, we had to take it raw and cook it in a dish of boiling water and it was delicious. Finally, after this, I went out with a few of the people on the trip and it was a really good time. Day one in china was a huge success!