Sunday, March 13, 2011 Beijing: Arrival, Great Wall, Tiananen Square, & the Silk Market

It is hard to believe that this is only the first day in Beijing!  First, the Great Wall, then an extravagant lunch, followed by Tiananmen Square, the Silk Market, and finally another ornate dinner!… I can hardly believe all that we have accomplished in such a short time.

After finishing an amazing breakfast at the hotel, the group began “day one” in Beijing at the Great Wall.  Going into the experience, I suppose that I did not know exactly what to expect… I have friends that have visited the Great Wall, but it is honestly a much different experience to climb it yourself!  No one really tells you how steep the wall can get… (Let’s just say, I definitely accomplished my morning workout) I found the climb invigorating and yet, still a little terrifying (as one slip of your foot could lead to you plummeting straight down an endless flight of stairs). 

Something else I observed, were the steps on the Great Wall.  If you ever get the chance to visit, you will quickly notice that the steps are very uneven (making the climb a little more challenging)!  If you look even closer, you can see that many of the steps are worn down in the areas where people most often step (I can imagine this is because of years of use).  This is something that I found to be interesting and a little unexpected (it helped me to visualize and comprehend the vast amounts of visitors that it has hosted). 

In honesty, our visit to the Great Wall was my favorite part of “day one.”  Our experiences today, however, have been so amazing! Lunch was wonderful, Tiananmen Square was monumental, and lets just say- I had a successful day of shopping at the silk market!  To end the day, dinner was amazing.  Needless to say, the group was exhausted after the days many activities, yet everyone was still excited to explore a new cuisine! 

I am extremely excited for tomorrow’s activities (forbidden city, etc).  With such a grand start to our visit in China, I can only imagine what else is in store! 

-Leah DiPalma