Post # 4

Views from the Great Wall


Hey, Sorry its been so long but the internet is not really working too great. I have decided that I am going to try and post every Sunday morning here, so that is Saturday night US time, so look for updates and photos then. So far things have been going really well. I have settled into my room at Beida (Peking University) and have started classes. My chinese class has 5 other people in it and the teacher is really nice so it should be a lot of fun. As of now, I can say hello (Ni Hao) and how are you (Ni Hao ma?). I have two other classes that I am taking, Chinese Arts and Culture, Chinese Political Reforms, they meet once a week, so I have not had them yet.
So a recap of the last week:
Last Monday (Feb 2) the entire group I am with went on a study trip to Chendge, a city about 3 hours from Beijing. On the way there, we stopped and climbed the GREAT WALL!! It was amazing! We stopped and ate lunch on the wall and took lots of photos. Then from there we arrived in Chendge. The next day, we visited the Summer Villa, which was like the Hamptons House for the Emperor. He went thereto escape the hot Beijing summers. We then had a group lunch and visited two Buddhist temples. They were really cool, and the second one we went to is an actual working temple that is home to the largest wooden Buddha in the entire world. The next day we just drove back to Beijing and got settled in for classes to start.
Then yesterday (Saturday Feb 7) a small group of us took a day trip to Tianjin, which is a city about 1 1/2 hours from Beijing. We took a high speed train to get there, it went over 200 mph, it was crazy/scary!! Tianjin is the third largest city in China, but it is still being built up. We browsed down a street called Ancient Culture Street, where they sell China related items, like tea sets, calligraphy and knock-off designer bags. I got a fake Coach bag for a little under 20 dollars ( I need to improve my bargaining skills). Then we got lunch and searched for a famous Tianjin bakery. It took us a while, but we found it. It was really good, they had twisted fried buns and donut holes.
So those have been my travels thus far. Other than that I have been just hanging out in Wudakou, which is the area around Beida. It is a really built up area with tons of restaurants and shops. (not to mention tons of KFC's. I dont know why, but they are really popular here!)
I have been getting used to Chinese food, it is really good, just hard to order because the menus are all in characters! But no worries, I have found a place that sells peanut butter, so I am set!