11.14.09
We woke up and had the usual breakfast of sweet potatoes and noodles. When we left the hotel, we went to Tiananmen Square. We walked through the square and had some free time for a couple of hours. Yolanda had mentioned something about an H&M and we eventually wanted to find that.
Kelsey, Robyn and I first went into the Great Hall of the People. It was very underwhelming, plus there was NO information anywhere so we really had no idea what we were looking at. We adventured around and saw a big theater and some pretty rooms. When we left we wondered what we had just toured. Once we got out of the hall and reclaimed our bags that we had checked, Robyn got out her iPhone and goggled it. Turns out that it is the Chinese equivalent to a parliament building. So it is like going to the capital.
We wondered in the general direction of the H&M, but we never really made it there. We just ended up going into little hole in the wall stores. They were a lot of dollar store type places. The best part was that we managed to find a grocery store. There were some really interesting things there like duck in a bag or beef jerky candy. We skipped the duck in a bag and went with oreos, sprites and some interesting flavored chips – French Chicken and Texas BBQ.
We got back to Tiananmen Square a little before the meeting time. As we were heading back to the meeting location, we saw a group of American teenage girls all lined up in front of the memorial. Next thing I know, they are busting out the Ho Down Throw Down from the Hannah Montana Movie. Oh yeah – they were that cool. It was slightly ridiculous, but very funny to watch the Chinese react. They had no idea what to do. One woman was brave and managed to side step in front of some of the girls while her friend took a picture.
We found the group and went into the Forbidden City for lunch. Lunch was the usual Chinese. I really just want a cheeseburger. After we ate, we went on a tour of the Forbidden City. We were given audio guides, which also had a map on them. The Forbidden City is HUGE! Thank god for those maps or we would have never made it out. We kept trying to find the Temple of abstinence, but somehow we always ended up in the temple of heavenly something or other. Turns out that we couldn’t get into the temple we wanted to go in. The best part of the audio guide maps was that they had a sensor in them and a light would light up and tell you where you were and where you had been. Kelsey and I just kept ducking into little stores so we could defrost for a little bit.
We eventually made it to the temple gardens, which is where we were meeting the group. They were absolutely gorgeous. There were all these beautiful flowers and pagodas and rocks. But before we were really able to enjoy the gardens, we had a group of Chinese come up and ask to take our picture with us. Kelsey is like a tourist attraction with her blonde hair and all and add in the fact that we had Panda hats on our heads we get a lot of weird looks. As soon as we left that group, there were 2 more girls waiting. We were able to break free of the meet and great line and ducked into a little café.  Kelsey grabbed some popcorn and we sat and ate and learned about our Chinese horoscopes.
As we were walking to meet up with the group, we saw a group of art students who had an art exhibit. They showed us their work and it was beautiful, but way too expensive. They got so excited when we complimented their work. We made it back to the group and walked to Jingshan Park, which is behind the Forbidden City. Kelsey and I found sweet potatoes so we bought some just to stay warm. The park turned out to be an overlook over the Forbidden City and Beijing. It was gorgeous and we got there right at sunset so the lighting was perfect. We could see for miles around Beijing. It was awesome.
When we walked down from the overlook, we boarded the bus since the first time that morning and it was almost 5. It was great to be able to get fully warm. Our next stop was dinner. None of us were really hungry, but we still got a ton of food. At dinner we sat with MacGarret, Leslie, and Ana. It was great conversation. I love talking to all the staff. They all have such diverse backgrounds and they are all hysterical.
After dinner, we went to an acrobatic show. The other SAS university group was there. We also met a guy from Boulder, who was on his honeymoon and his younger brother had done SAS last year. That was cool. The show was insane. They stated out with this see-saw thing and they were flipping people into the air and they were landing on stilts or a seat balance on a pole or some guys shoulders or some crazy contraption. Then these 3 girls came out and one did the crazy contortionist thing. Their set ended with them balancing on their chins while holding these weird candle holder looking things with both hands and feet, while their bodies were flipped upside down.
Next was a guy on a balance board who used the board to flip bowls up into his hat. Then these two guys came out on this wheel thing that spun around while the wheels they were on also spun. It really made me nervous because this guy was jumping rope and running around blindfolded and he almost fell a couple of times and there is no safety net or harness or anything. Then these other three guys came out and did these poses that required such strength. It was crazy.
I realize that there is no way to really describe the show accurately, but it was so unbelievable. It was kind of like Cirque de Solie. The things these people did with their bodies was crazy! I got lots of video even though I wasn’t supposed to.
After the show, we went back to the hotel and took a bath. Right after that I got hit with a wave of nausea. I ended up getting sick a couple of times, but then I felt a lot better and was able to pass out.