China Rundown

Well our trip to China is finally finished. It was super amazing but also one of the most exhausting and stressful vacations ever.

DAY I
We arrived in Beijing last Saturday and were quickly approached by a man in a leather jacket with the simple sentence, "Hello, fifty." It took us a while to realize he was trying to offer us a ride. Apparently Beijing has various "no stop" zones for their cab drivers. As such, we couldn't find anyone to give us a ride. We eventually reluctantly gave in as we were completely in the middle of nowhere and didn't even know where to walk if we had chose that option. We walked over to an alley, got in, and took off. I am surprised Jonathan and Justin didn't both just pee themselves... haha We finally arrived and turned in for the evening.

DAY II

The next morning we were off sightseeing. We saw the Temple of Heaven, Tienanmen Square, ate some authentic Peking duck, and then saw the forbidden city. It was enormous. It is literally the size of a small city. On the way out we bumped into a travel agency guide and she gave us a card for her company. On the way home we took the subway as close as we could get to our hotel and thought we would take a cab. Unfortunately we once again found ourselves in a no-stop zone. We walked back to the hotel and made it in just over an hour.

Day III

May I just say TGFTC (Thank God for travel companies!) Our tour guide picked us up in a really nice van and whisked us away to various locations in the city. They varied from a jade and silk factory to the oldest tea house in Korea and the Great Wall of China. It was an intense day. The wall was amazing. And may I also say, GREAT. It was so freaking huge. The steps were incredibly steep. I felt like I was dying by the end of our trek. My legs are still feeling a bit like jello even four days later. The wall was my favorite site of the trip. The tea house was my favorite experience. We had a personal tea lady come in a teach us about the various teas and brew up various kinds for us to sample. When we finally made it home we just grabbed some McDonalds and went to bed.

DAY IV

With a better grasp on the city we felt a bit more prepared to go out and face the wilds of the city life in Beijing. We hit the streets after a late start and headed to the Beijing zoo. We saw a few sections of it and then grabbed some lunch. We ate at a Dairy Queen. Afterward, we went to the Pearl Market. It was pretty awesome. I am surprised I didn't get pick-pocketed. I bought a pair of knock off boots for the winter and the guys bought some random stuff as well. We caught another shady black car or illegal taxi and headed to the theater so we could see the Kung Fu Show. The theater didn;t allow us to take pictures or video, but I managed to sneak a few things. You can see them on Picasa. :D

DAY V

We woke up around 7 to head to the airport for our 11 o'clock flight. Little did we know that Jack accidentally switched the arrival time with the departure time. Thus we missed our flight by two hours. We managed to get another flight without being charged, but it was not until the next day. The following 24 hours consisted of us randomly meandering through the incredibly depressing Beijing airport. Needless to say it was a pretty restless day.

DAY VI
We finally managed to make our flight. We boarded and zoomed back off to Seoul. We grabbed some lunch in Gangnam. Jonathan and I went to Dos Tacos, potentially the best Mexican restaurant I have ever eaten at ( and I have been to Mexico) and the boys went to Butterfingers (the greatest breakfast joint ever that is known for its chocolate pancakes) The boys spent the rest of the day sightseeing in Insadong. I lovingly informed them that if I walked any further my feet my actually detach themselves from my body and go on strike. As such, I split off the pack and went to the JimJilBang for the afternoon. It was pretty relaxing. I spent the after noon in a hot tub while the guys foolishly ran all over the place. We met up later that night in Itaewon for dinner at a Austrian place. We had snitzel, beef tips, and steak. It was awesome. :D