We disembarked the ship at 7 pm. My friends and I struggled to make it to the market using the metro system. It was so very complicated, but we finally made it to the market! Unfortunately, it was already closed. We explored the city for a couple hours before deciding to stop for dinner. We grabbed soup dumplings from a street stand and ate them along with hot pot at a restaurant across the street. At that point in the night pretty much everything was closed so we headed back home to the ship.

I know that you will all be surprised, but I woke up super early for my flight. I had a long and delayed flight to Chengdu. Once we arrived in Chengdu, we ate lunch. Ironically, there was a wedding at the same venue so it was interesting to see a traditional Chinese wedding even if I only got a glimpse. After lunch we went to one of the most famous walking streets in Chengdu. It was full of amazing food and some great shops. We then stopped by our hotel and got all checked in. I got a quick nap in and then we headed back out for more shopping and dinner. Later that evening we went to an Chinese opera for tea and a show. I honestly could not tell you what was going on cause it was all in Chinese but we saw a great hand puppet show and a guy breathing fire!

I had an early breakfast, and we loaded the bus for another long day. We drove over an hour into the mountains to reach the Panda Research Center. We toured the facilities and met a few of the pandas. Then we cleaned the enclosures. While we were cleaning other Chinese tourists stopped to take OUR pictures and I truly felt like an animal at the zoo. One of my highlights of the Panda Rescue Center was that I got to feed a panda. After we were able to pet the pandas, we ate lunch and took a break from the cold, rainy weather. One of our guides gave us a presentation on pandas and showed us a documentary about the rehabilitation efforts. We went back to see the pandas and we smashed bamboo for them. I was able to hand feed the pandas one more time before it was time to leave. Then we made the trek back to the city of Chengdu. We had a night off so I grabbed dinner and explored the city with my friends.

The day started with another early flight to Beijing. We grabbed lunch as soon as we landed, and we ran into several other SAS groups. Then we headed into the city and started the day at Tiananmen Square. Tiananmen Square is a city square in the centre of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen ("Gate of Heavenly Peace") located to its north, separating it from the Forbidden City. (Many Americans will remember the square is best known for the armed suppression of the pro-democracy June 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.) After that we visited the Forbidden City. It was huge and so very gorgeous. I walked almost 3 miles while we were there.

Once we finally made our way out, we went to a traditional tea tasting. We sampled 5 of the main types of tea. After we finished our tea sampling, these rickshaws picked us up from the tea house and took us to a woman’s house. She taught us how to make dumplings and made a homemade dinner for us! She opens her house up to a variety of visitors. The most famous people that have visited her is Michael Phelps and Leonardo DiCaprio. I found it ironic that this woman had a 2011 St. Louis Cardinals World Series Magnet on her fridge. After dinner we checked into our hotel, and met up with some of my friends who were in Beijing.

Early in the morning we left the hotel. We went to a park that can best be described as a retirement gym/ hang out spot. This place was filled with elderly people doing insane stuff on the workout equipment. People were everywhere. They were singing and playing games. Located in the same park, is the Temple of Heaven which is an insanely beautiful temple. After exploring the temple we loaded on to the bus and headed to the Great Wall of China. We ate lunch at the bottom of the Wall and shopped at the markets until it was time to go up. We were lucky and got to take the cable car up to the top. The view was amazing! Everywhere I looked, I either had an amazing view of the wall or of the mountains in the distance. At the Great Wall, I decided to do the most difficult climb which had the most steep steps I’ve ever encountered. I can’t imagine doing them if my legs weren’t as long as they are. We were on a time crunch because the Wall actually closes, so we had to leave. The best part was of going back down was that I was able to take a toboggan down the entire way.

After our experience at the Great Wall, we had a long ride back into the city of Beijing for dinner. We had the traditional Chinese delicacy, Peking Duck.

After dinner I ran into a friend on another SAS program. On a whim we went to a Chinese metal concert which was very random or unusual for me, but I’m glad I went and experienced it. After a late night out, I had to get up early the next morning and catch a flight back to Shanghai. We boarded the ship, and I had to say goodbye to China!