Beijing

After a few hours of sleep we were on the bus headed to the Great Wall. It was a quiet bus ride considering the lack of sleep the night before. Looking out the window at Beijing you can already tell that Beijing is very different from Shanghai. Shanghai is the much more modern city with Beijing having a much older world feel. Still a big Tier 1 city, Beijing looks much older than Shanghai and there are far fewer high rises and big buildings.

When we arrived at the Great Wall, even from afar it is quite an astounding site. We took the chair lift up to the wall and it was quite beautiful. We certainly lucked out with a beautiful day and it felt like you could see for miles. It is hard to put into words what the experience was like but it is probably one of the most incredible places that I have ever been to. The pictures don't even do it justice.

After we took the toboggan down from the wall we were treated to a beautiful lunch at a restaurant with an incredible view of the wall. The owner was so proud of his restaurant and hotel, he gave us a tour of the whole place. All of the rooms have beautiful views of the mountains and the wall. After experiencing the business visits and cultural visits it is clear that the Chinese people are very proud of their work and heritage like the Vietnamese people.

Next stop after the drive back to the city was the Forbidden City. I couldn't believe how big it was, you expect an Emperor's Palace to be large but this was incredible. All of the buildings and architecture were very beautiful. Because of the size of our group and how quite our guide was moving it was very difficult to hear all about the palace.

On the other side of the Forbidden City was Tianeman Square. This was the only place on the whole trip where we saw any military presence and it was also the place where I felt like I was in a Communist country. Having seen the site so many times on television it was eerie to see it in real life. Another impressive site.

Our final stop before our last dinner was the Pearl Market and more opportunity to shop. Again the market was much better than in Vietnam. We spent most of our time up in the jewelry section which is much less aggressive than the lower levels. I still had some trouble negotiating but luckily one of my classmates helped me negotiate my pearl purchase.

Our final dinner was nice, although I think we were all exhausted and ready to be headed to home I think we were all sad to be saying goodbye. I have to agree with the sentiments expressed by everyone at the dinner and I do think that the effects that this time have had on us will only become apparent over time. For me, it was an incredible experience, probably once in a lifetime for me, as I don't know that I would have gotten to Asia otherwise. I feel priviledged that we were able to experience two countries in a very unique way, but I won't lie I am happy to be headed home.