After r
eturning from the Great Wall and a good nights sleep, we spent the next day attempting to experience everything that we could in Beijing. We woke up bright and early and headed into the city for the Temple of Heaven. The Temple of Heaven's main function was to serve as the stage for prayer to the gods for good harvests, divine clearance and atonement of sins. It was a sprawling campus of temples, gardens, and Chinese architecture. We made a smart decision by arriving at the Temple of Heaven very early in the morning. As we entered the gates we witnessed people simply enjoying life everywhere we looked. We walked down a path lined with older men playing 
card games, dice, and dominoes. There were hundreds of people doing their morning exercises, tai chi, and kung fu. There were songs, and dance, and some people simply observing others. It was a truly peaceful environment, and made me almost forget I was in the middle of a mega metropolis. We spent the morning exploring the massive temples and gardens, and interacting with some of the locals. Mike and I even 
took some time and played a game, very similar to hackey sack with two local Chinese women. A few of the highlights: The Echo wall, a massive wall where if you whispered along one of its ends, the sound travels clearly over 65 m to the other side of the temple where your friend can clearly hear you. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests was a temple who's center was fabled for having been struck by lightning. It is considered to be the center of the Chinese world and it is traditional to stand on it's center stone and yell to the gods. Naturally, Julianne and I had to give it a try!
eturning from the Great Wall and a good nights sleep, we spent the next day attempting to experience everything that we could in Beijing. We woke up bright and early and headed into the city for the Temple of Heaven. The Temple of Heaven's main function was to serve as the stage for prayer to the gods for good harvests, divine clearance and atonement of sins. It was a sprawling campus of temples, gardens, and Chinese architecture. We made a smart decision by arriving at the Temple of Heaven very early in the morning. As we entered the gates we witnessed people simply enjoying life everywhere we looked. We walked down a path lined with older men playing 
card games, dice, and dominoes. There were hundreds of people doing their morning exercises, tai chi, and kung fu. There were songs, and dance, and some people simply observing others. It was a truly peaceful environment, and made me almost forget I was in the middle of a mega metropolis. We spent the morning exploring the massive temples and gardens, and interacting with some of the locals. Mike and I even 
took some time and played a game, very similar to hackey sack with two local Chinese women. A few of the highlights: The Echo wall, a massive wall where if you whispered along one of its ends, the sound travels clearly over 65 m to the other side of the temple where your friend can clearly hear you. The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests was a temple who's center was fabled for having been struck by lightning. It is considered to be the center of the Chinese world and it is traditional to stand on it's center stone and yell to the gods. Naturally, Julianne and I had to give it a try! 
During the afternoon, we journeyed to the Forbidden City (Dongcheng). The Forbidden City got its name basically because it was off limits for 500 years! Its also the largest and most well preserved group of Chinese architecture in China. It was home to the Qing and the Ming dynasties, each one adding their personal touches to it. We spent the bulk of the afternoon traversing the 
temples and specific palaces.
The remainder in of our time in Beijing we spent exploring the Tienanmen Square, Fafujing Street (the main shopping street in Beijing similar to Times Square) and visiting the Hutongs. The Hutongs were actually one of
my favorite parts of the city, as this was OLD China! I actually made this journey on my own as the girls wanted to go shopping and I had certainly had had enough of that! The hutongs are basically a series of back alleyways and small ramshackle homes. They lie at the heart of the city and are one of the best preserved parts of the city. They really opened my eyes and allowed me to see how the other half lives. It was in the hutongs that I had one of my best experiences in China yet. I was approached by two Chinese women who asked me if they could practice their
English with me. Being cautious, I said yes. Scams and pickpocketers are apparently ruthless in Beijing so it is always important to keep your guard up. They especially look for foreigners. Our conversations persisted and I found out they were teachers from Xi'an. We spent the next few hours talking and laughing about silly Chinese and American customs and comparing our teaching experiences. They invited me out for tea where we, much like a beer tasting, sampled different types of tea from throughout China. Our host would tell the history of each tea, and my two new friends Candy and Krystal would translate for me. We exchanged contact information and they told me that if my friends and I ever journeyed to Xi'an we would have a place to stay! I thank them for their kindness and was on my way. We ended our day around 5:30 and prepared for the long night ahead. We had an 11:30 overnight train to Tai'an where we would hike Mount Tai-shan the next morning. The only thing was we had hard sitters for this 7 hour train
ride. We became nomads that evening, camping out in a local Starbucks, reading, sleeping, washing our faces and brushing our teeth in their bathroom. 
Finally 11:30 came and we boarded our train for the mountain. That night proved to be incredibly difficult as none of us got any sleep. We were cramped into a sitting car with what seemed like a countless number of smelly, sweaty Chinese men. No sleep + a cramped overnight 7 hour hard sitter car + having to a hike a mountain the next morning = 7 very cranky maigoren (Americans)...
temples and specific palaces.The remainder in of our time in Beijing we spent exploring the Tienanmen Square, Fafujing Street (the main shopping street in Beijing similar to Times Square) and visiting the Hutongs. The Hutongs were actually one of
my favorite parts of the city, as this was OLD China! I actually made this journey on my own as the girls wanted to go shopping and I had certainly had had enough of that! The hutongs are basically a series of back alleyways and small ramshackle homes. They lie at the heart of the city and are one of the best preserved parts of the city. They really opened my eyes and allowed me to see how the other half lives. It was in the hutongs that I had one of my best experiences in China yet. I was approached by two Chinese women who asked me if they could practice their
English with me. Being cautious, I said yes. Scams and pickpocketers are apparently ruthless in Beijing so it is always important to keep your guard up. They especially look for foreigners. Our conversations persisted and I found out they were teachers from Xi'an. We spent the next few hours talking and laughing about silly Chinese and American customs and comparing our teaching experiences. They invited me out for tea where we, much like a beer tasting, sampled different types of tea from throughout China. Our host would tell the history of each tea, and my two new friends Candy and Krystal would translate for me. We exchanged contact information and they told me that if my friends and I ever journeyed to Xi'an we would have a place to stay! I thank them for their kindness and was on my way. We ended our day around 5:30 and prepared for the long night ahead. We had an 11:30 overnight train to Tai'an where we would hike Mount Tai-shan the next morning. The only thing was we had hard sitters for this 7 hour train
ride. We became nomads that evening, camping out in a local Starbucks, reading, sleeping, washing our faces and brushing our teeth in their bathroom. 
Finally 11:30 came and we boarded our train for the mountain. That night proved to be incredibly difficult as none of us got any sleep. We were cramped into a sitting car with what seemed like a countless number of smelly, sweaty Chinese men. No sleep + a cramped overnight 7 hour hard sitter car + having to a hike a mountain the next morning = 7 very cranky maigoren (Americans)... 
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