Asian Adventure: part 2

Beijing:
We left Korea on Sunday the 19th for Beijing. I think Beijing is the place I was looking forward to most because I've always wanted to visit the Great Wall. Our first day there we went to Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. The photos really don't do the place justice. Both the square and the Forbidden city were massive and it seemed like you'd never be able to see it all. It was both beautiful and eerie.

The following day we did a day trip to the Great Wall. Instead of taking a bus there, snapping a few photos, and driving back, we opted for the hiking trip. It was an 8k hike (a small bit considering it's 6,700k long) and man, it was an intense hike! I didn't expect it to be so steep. I had hear that it had a lot of stairs, but I never realized how difficult parts of it were. I can't believe people built this thing! We took a cable car to the start and ziplined off of it at the end. I took tons of photos of the Wall; I guess I was in awe that I was really there.


One evening we went to see the Bird's Nest and Water Cube Olympic buildings. The last summer Olympics were held in Beijing in 2008, and the area was really nice and modern. They even took the best of care with the grass, notice the plaque!

Another day we went to the Temple of Heaven. It's a Taoist complex where the emperors would come to pray and have ceremonies. Just like Tienanmen and the Forbidden City, this place was massive. It was completely walled in with many different temples and a huge park area.


These last photos are from the Hutong were our hostel was. A Hutong is an old neighborhood made up of a complicated series of alley ways, side streets and courtyards. The buildings were all so old and beautiful, but also extremely easy to get lost in!