Today is our last day in China. I am both very sad and very happy. I am very happy to be able to relax from my trip, but I am sad to leave behind the friends that I have made during my time here. Our final destination is the Yu Garden. I am really excited to visit because I did research on this location before arriving to China.

After arriving at the Yu Garden, we traveled as a group to the actual Yu Garden area. `Yu` means pleasure in Chinese. The man who built this garden built it for his parents to be pleased and happy at their old age. The garden itself was very beautiful with the contrast of the red buildings and greenery surrounding the buildings. It was filled with small bridges and little ponds. There were also flowers all around. Many of the structures and walls had carvings of different types. All of it was very beautiful and pleasing to look at. However, I wish I could understand more of the meaning behind what I was seeing. At the top of some walls, there was a carved dragon. It looked beautiful and as if it was protecting the area. The Yu Gardens were also filled with stones with many holes inside of them. These stones are also meant to keep evil away. All of the Yu Garden was stunning and felt very sacred. It has been preserved for many years, but the natural beauty of the garden has remained intact. It felt as if you stepped backwards in time when passing through the garden. The entire Yu Garden was beautiful, and I could have walked around the it all day.

Directly outside of the Yu Garden, you could see the nine-turn bridge. Nine is a very lucky number in China and walking across this bridge will give a person good luck. The nine-turn bridge also leads to one of the oldest tea houses in China. I walked across this bridge and took many photos of the pond that surrounded it.

After we were done, it was shopping time. Here, we again bargained down the prices of many items. We also saw different foods as we walked around looking for souvenirs to purchase. The area was filled with little shops that people can buy from. Towards the end of our time at the Yu Garden, I sat down with my friends to enjoy pan fried dumplings. It was the first time I have ever had this type of dumpling. It was very delicious. I could never forget the taste or forget about the Yu Garden.

Later in the day, we delivered presentations for our class. Afterwards we returned to the hotel to finish packing our things. I was hit again with the sad and happy feeling again. After packing our bags, we went off to the Shanghai International Airport. This trip was an amazing experience. Goodbye China and thank you for everything!!!