My China Trip, part 1

大家好! How are you guys doing? I'm so sorry for the delay about my China trip. I had to wait until I bought a new keyboard to start typing normally again. I just bought one yesterday and it's Hello Kitty! I use a laptop and some of the keys broke, which is why I had to buy a new one. Interestingly enough, it broke while I was in China. Strange. Anyway, I shall now tell you guys about my trip. Just a warning. My writing will be going all over the place, so, bear with me.
As you know, I live in California. So, living in California, we went to the SFO, San Francisco International Airport, whom my aunt and uncle drove me and my family too. That took about 2 hours to get there, and by that time, we were about 4 hours early until we were suppose to arrive at the gates. Our flight was at 1 am. Waiting at the airport was boring though. Sitting, waiting, buying some food, talking, more sitting, until it was time.

These pictures of the plane and me waiting at the airport. Such a long wait. Me and my siblings ended up playing card games with the cards I had brought. Finally, it was time to board the plane!

The plane was amazing. The seats were comfy, they provided us with comfy pillows and a blanket. I guess they had to because it was suppose to be about a 13-14 hour plane ride. But, anyway, since it was already 1 am, I fell asleep before takeoff! I was so sad, since my sister didn't even bother to wake me up. I wanted to it, but, it's ok. When we went to Canada 5 years ago, I got to see the plane take off.

the first plane meal

Anyway, I woke up an hour or two later, and by then, they were starting to serve dinner. The dinner was actually pretty good and it came with ice cream for dessert! The best ice cream I've eaten. The meal was even vegetarian too!

on the airplane

After finishing my meal, I tried to figure out how to use my personal entertainment system they had on the plane, Each person has one. You can watch movies, shows, listen to music, and play games. I don't know what I would have done without it. Anyway, the rest of the flight was sleep, eat, play games, listen to music or watch a movie. We finally arrived at the Hong Kong airport in the early morning (around 6 am) and then we transferred to our next flight to Beijing. They had computers for people to go online on at the waiting area. Then, we were off and the plane rid took 3 hours to get to Beijing.

The first thing I noticed when I got off the plane was the heat and the air quality there. Humidity and pollution that exactly mix really well. The sun was actually looked orange through the clouds. It was hard to breathe and while in the car, the sunlight made the skin salmon color. Oh yea, just to let you guys know, most of China's restrooms are basically a hole in the ground. There are toilets though... Anyway...

We signed up for a tour of Beijing prior to leaving the States, so the next day, we were off. I had met 2 new friends at the airport, whom were taking the same tour as us. They are two sisters. So, the first place we went  to this one place that I forgot the name of, but there were many ancient buildings and that stuff. I really loved the ancient architecture, the old Chinese styles. It reminded me of Mulan a little bit. It was a nice place,but it was already hot, 8 in the morning! Boy, you gotta love humidity to survive. I was already sticky by the time we got back into the bus. FYI, if you ever cross streets in China, fear for your life! You have to watch for cars. The cars don't watch out for you.
Anyway, we went to other places too. We went to a Jade place, where my mother bought me a Jade necklace. What really caught my attention was the Great Wall of China! Yes, I climbed the Great Wall. Well, up to 2 and half towers. I could have gone higher, but I was so scared since I was really high up and also, we were only given an hour to climb the Great Wall. The steps to the first tower were really steep and long.
 I really applaud the elderly that are able to do it. I also applaud the little kids who run up and down without being scared of falling.
I'm really amazed how it has held up for the past thousand years. I'm still quite surprised how my ancestors were able to build such a wall, along the mountains. I hear that the workers who died building it were put into the wall. I don't know if that's true, but, it may be.
Anyway, I climbed up the tower, so that I'd be at the watch tower. The stairs were inside, narrow, small and really steep. I don't understand how the people back then were able to go up and down, signaling danger, but, they somehow did. I inscribed my Chinese name on the wall, since there were so many other people that did that. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it. But, I at least took a picture at the tower. My friend Sean took the picture for me.

After "conquering" the wall, I got some green tea drink to re-hydrate myself. It was actually pretty good.
The rest of the day was pretty much boring. We went tea testing, and that stuff.
The only other fun thing we did was that we went to the Bird's Nest, where the 2008 Summer Olympics was held. The buildings were so beautiful, but it was hard to see because of the sky. I couldn't tell if it was pollution or clouds.
Anyway, we ended the day with dinner (and some rain!) and then going back to the hotel. Oh yea, I forgot to tell you guys about the hotel.
So,  the hotels we stayed at were pretty much 4 or 5 stars. The hotel I stayed at Beijing was actually the best one I stayed at, throughout my entire China trip. The rooms were fancy, big, and there were free clean toothbrushes, combs and that stuff. It's much much better than the hotels I stayed at when I went to Disneyland. They even had a breakfast buffet and it was actually pretty good. I got my daily dose of black coffee everyday while I was on tour.

So, that's the end of this post. I have so much more to talk about, but I'd hate to make 1 post too long, so, it'll be split into at least 4 or 5 more, depending on how much I write.

再见！