Great Wall, etc.

We visited the Great Wall of China this morning. It was about an hour and a half from Beijing. On the trip there, there were completely breath-taking views with the terrain becoming more and more mountainous (something we are not used to in Kalamazoo). When we finally got to the Great Wall it was an incredible experience to see something so famous that it is one of the wonders of the world. The pictures we have seen in books do it no justice. Thinking of the history of the wall just blows our mind and imagining all the millions of people who have visited before us. The team opted to climb the more challenging side and it was quite challenging, but less crowded. While "climbing" we had to be careful of the uneven steps and many breaks were needed due to the VERY steep incline. Sometimes it was hard the reach the railing because it was intended for shorter people. Overall the climb was really fun and the pay off was a gorgeous view from a tower on the wall. Colleen, Sandrine, Anna, Courtney, Monique and Linda chose to continue climbing the wall and just wanted to say that they climbed the farthest :) Along the way there were some vendors selling "I climbed to Great Wall" souvenirs. Walking down the wall was kind of terrifying due to the steep incline and at some points it looked like it was just a drop off, but we all made it safely!
After the Great Wall we had a nice lunch and we were surprised to see french fries! Next we went to the Dingling Tombs of the Ming Dynasty. It was super cool and temperature was cool also which was a nice change from the hot sun at the Great Wall. We learned a lot of interesting history about the Ming Dynasty. After that we went to the restaurant to eat dinner. Next we had to go shopping, because unfortunately half of the group do not have luggage yet and are going on the fourth day of wearing the same clothes. So they bought some underwear and a couple other necessities. Then we hurried to the Flying Acrobat Show. The feats that those acrobats could do was unbelievable. Some highlights: the "hamster wheel contraption" (two guys flipping around in a huge two-sided hamster wheel, even masked at one point) and girls doing tricks on bicycles (at the end having twelve girls on one bike). Finally we returned to the hotel to get some much needed sleep. So far the trip has been amazing we hope the luggage will arrive soon because we are leaving for Shanghai in two days. Thank you all for reading and thank you for your support!

Sandrine Zilikana '12 and Colleen Leonard '12