Great Wall of China and Bicycles

- July 3-5, 2009 -

Today Ashley and I found our first hostel of the trip. We were really lucky because it is super nice! It is called Sanlitun Youth Hostel (http://www.hostels.com/hostels/beijing/sanlitun-youth-hostel/24985) right in the center of Beijing. For dinner we went to "Wan Fu Jing" street. They basically sell anything you can think of on a stick (seahorses, hearts, silk worms, scorpions and more). It is a place where tourists come to have some authentic dinner. Even though it was tempting we decided to eat at a Peking Duck restaurant. We basically had a three course meal and plenty of drinks for only $7!



The next day we went to the GREAT WALL OF CHINA! Ashley and I decided to climb to the top unlike most of the other people in our group who took the Gondola. The Great Wall was one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. Do you know that to walk the entire Great Wall it would take a person 3 years?!?! On the way down from the Great Wall we took a toboggan. This was so much fun! It is a must do if you ever visit the wall. That night we went to Hooters for dinner. It was nice to have American food. Believe it or not the Hooters in China is exactly like the ones in the United States. The only difference is that about every 30 minutes the Hooters girls stand in the middle of the restaurant and dance and sing. It was super fun!





On July 5th we rented bikes and rode from our hostel all the way to Tianamen Square. This was definitely an humbling sight to see because of all the history behind it. General Mao's portrait was right in the center of the building... After navigating our way through Beijing on a couple of bikes and only a very confusing Chinese map in hand we got back to the hostel packed our bags and headed to the airport. DUBAI HERE WE COME! GET READY ERIN AND MARK!