Ni Hao

When I was in the 9th grade I decided to take a drama class

why? I HAVE NO CLUE 

I don't like to act, I can't act 

so signing up for a class where you had to get up in front of a class and act

was a BAD idea!!

But there was good things that came from that class

I meet a friend that became very special to me

Wei was an exchange student for China

and we just happened to sit next to each other in class

I loved to sit and learn about where she was from and about her life 

it didn't take long for us to become best friends

we spend that whole year we with each other 

I helped he with her English and she taught me all about China

the year quickly came to an end and we made a promise to each other that 

we would see each other again 

Wei would come back and I would visit her in China

well last year, after 5 years, our promise came true

we came to study in America and during her winter break she came back to GA

and we were able to spend time with each other

and it was during that time that she asked me to come and stay with 

her family that summer in China 

and the rest was all down hill from there

my parents allowed me to go surprisingly

they got my visa for me for my 21st birthday and a few weeks later 

I was at the airport heading to Beijing

I spent the week with Wei touring around every were you could thing in Beijing

the first day we went to

Tienanmen Square, Temple of Heaven, and Tienanmen Street

Dancers on Tienanman Street

Temple of Heaven

this is a place at the temple of heaven
where its said that the heavens and the earth meet

Tienanmen Street

on the Second day we went to the Forbidden City, 

took a bike tour through the city and ended up at a famous shopping street

and then ate a restaurant where I had the famous Beijing duck and
 the BEST sweet and sour Chicken I've ever tasted in my life

we ended the day at the site of the 2008 Olympics 

Entrance to the Forbidden City
this is where Emperors lived for thousands of years
and it had 3,000 rooms in it!

this is the where the swimming in the Olympics was held

here Wei is showing me how to wrap the Beijing duck to eat
by the way the duck was AMAZING

the third day I was there it was the Dragon Boat Festival

in the morning Wei's parents dropped us off at a HUGE shopping mall

if you've ever been on canal street in NYC then you have an idea what this place was like

I was able to get a china doll, and a lot of other souvenirs

after we shopped for a while we headed back to Wei's house and got ready for a family dinner

we headed to her Grandparents house where we ate the traditional foods for the day

one of her cousins spoke English and I was able to sit and talk with her for a while

it was so neat to be able to spend a holiday in China and see the way the celebrate

the Fourth day we spent the day at the Summer Palace 

this was a summer house built by one of the empresses

it set on a lake and has lots and lots of gardens all around and there

is a temple built up on a hill over looking the entire place

after we left the Palace we headed to another mall and saw the movie

Pirates of the Caribbean I don't know what number

the fifth day was my favorite of all 

we went to the Great Wall of China

when I was younger and saw pictures in history books of this wall

never in a million years did I dream that I would actually get to walk on the wall

it was such a surreal experience

on the way to the wall I got to experience the Beijing traffic

we literally sat with the car off for about tow hours 

people were hanging out on the highway walking around talking to people

I couldn't get over how bad the traffic was

people in America would flip out for sure if they had to drive in that

the whole family at the wall

you really wouldn't believe how steep it was!

the back drop to this almost looks fake to me 

it say The Great Wall of China in Mandarin
at least that's what they told me 

the Last day we were supposed to go to a theme park but

Wei called and they told her all the main roller coasters were closed 

so we decided to go to the zoo and aquarium instead

I was so so so excited about this because I love going to the Zoo

and I felt like since I was in China I needed to see Pandas 

the zoo was really big and had lots of animals

but I felt so sorry for the animals people would throw things

to get them to move 

I was just pitiful their cages were full of bottles 

besides that though the zoo was really good and had lots to see in it!!

the aquarium was pretty new so it was very nice 

they had a dolphin show that was really neat and was like the ones at sea world

it was a fun last day in China!!

My trip to China was something I will remember for the rest of my life

I am so grateful that my friends family so graciously 

allowed me to come and stay with them

they did everything they could for me while I was there

from taking me to dinner to driving us around 

they were the best host I could have ever asked for!!

If you ever have to chance to travel to China GO!! 

it will be a experience you will remember forever