Day 14, Sept 18 (Beijing)

Giant Panda House

Panda was so cute

Starting from today, we did not have any company’s visit.  We did not need to dress up and totally could enjoy the sightseeing in Beijing.  Hurrah!

In the morning, we visited the Giant Panda House in Beijing zoo.  I was so excited to see Panda because they were so cute.  Some of my classmates were also big fans of Panda.  They bought a tea set with Panda and a Christmas tree decoration with Panda. 

The souvenir shop was full of Panda dolls

Panda were solitary animals.  Apart from brief meetings with an opposite sex during mating seasons, they lived alone.  Generally, they were creatures of bamboo forests and lived in a mysterious life.  I found it so difficult to take pictures for Panda because they hardly moved, always using his back facing to the audience.  In the souvenir shop, there were many panda dolls look very attractive and cute.  Although I did not buy any, I took a picture with all different size and features of the panda. 

The Map of 13 Ming tombs

Next stop was Ming tombs.  There were 13 Ming tombs and we would visit Changling tomb (Zhu Di, or Emperor Yungle’s tomb) was the joint burial mausoleum of Emperor Zhu Di, the third emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty, and his express Xushi.

 

Emperor Zhu Di

Zhu Di, a great talent, had made significant influence on the development of Chinese history. He built the royal mausoleum in Beijing as one part of his political arrangement.  The Ming Tombs, led by Chang Mausoleum, recorded the ups and downs of the royal families, and represented the highest architectural and craft level.  They were the precious heritage for both China and the world.  According to the past experience, protecting and inheriting the precious heritage would benefit the great renaissance of the Chinese nation.  





Hero of the Great Wall

Next stop was the Great Wall – Juyongguan.  As a famous ancient pass of the Great Wall in north Beijing, Juyongguan was a national priority protected site and an important part of the Great Wall which was inscribed on the World Heritage List.  I was extremely excited to climb Great Wall again.  The first time I climbed Great Wall was more than 20 years ago.  I still remembered the stone stairs were very slippery and there were only two chains on both sides as handles to help you balance yourself to climb.  At that time, there were not many souvenir shops built along the way and no certificates were issued as well.  Everything was so different and it became more commercial than before.  Furthermore, we did not have many classmates climbing all the way up to the top of the Great Wall – Juyongguan.  I was glad that I was the first girl and the 4^th in the group reached to the top.  We had only 5 girls, 7 boys, and Dr Kim made it all the way to the top.  We took a picture together on the top.  This was really unforgettable. 

Bird Nest



Water Cubic Stadium

Then we went to see the Olympic sites.  The most famous Olympic sports stadium in China: the Beijing National Stadium (Bird Nest) and the Water Cubic Stadium.  They were modern and abstract architectural buildings and a lot of Olympic games were held in there.  This location was also a big open area.  It was good for playing kites.  There were so many different length and patterns of kite flying in the sky.  It was stunning.   

It was stunning to see the kite flying in the sky

Tonight it was the last dinner I had with my classmates before heading back to LAX.  Everyone looked so tired after strenuous exercise.  My legs were so sore and I thought it was the best to take a shower in order to release my muscle pain.  In addition, we had to pack our suitcases for tomorrow’s departure.  Therefore, my roommate and I did not go to Houhai for a drink after dinner.