中秋節 Break!

Mid Autumn Holiday is a national holiday in China. I had 9 days off (including two weekends!) Our coordinator planned a trip for us to visit neighboring cities of Beijing. Cities we visited were Jin Ling Shan Chang Cheng  (A part of the Great Wall), Cheng De, Bei Dai He (an east coast city of China), and Tian Jin. The last three cities have a population of over 1 million. We sat in a cramped bus for an average of 4-5 hours a day. The trip lasted about 5 days.

A look into the Great Wall.

The road to the Great Wall was a narrow road and sometimes people walked a little too slow.

There are so many bugs at the Great Wall. This one is of Ben, a Humbolt student in my program with a spider on his shoulder. 

One of the entrances to the Great Wall

 Am Empress' tomb! It wasn't yet opened to the public but we went anyway! The temple was lined with crazy looking animal statues.

This is the end of the great wall going into the ocean! We traveled to another city to see this part of the great wall.  

Crazy mosquito bites!! They get really red and swollen and then after a few days, they dissipate slowly. They end of looking like bruises for a little while. 

Night Lights in the city of Cheng De

I forget the name of this, but it's some kind of special bridge.

I also forgot where this was..... but it's really pretty.

Paddle boating with Fanny!

At a cool park. It was a big park with temples that are intact with some restoration.

I tried to imitate a picture our dad had of china a few years back.

1976 earthquake of TangShan memorial.

They had large granite walls about 50 feet high filled with names of those who passed away.

Look, a puppy in a rolling bag!

A guy paid to dress like an emperor from the traditanal times and saw my white classmates.  He motioned them to come over to take a picture.

At an entrance by Bei Dai He

At TianJin. This is a place where shops line up in the middle.

Dried meats and sausages

Dried fruits!

I was trying some sort of noodles that were dry and once a sauce was put in, it became a moist salty noodle.

A higher view of the market.

My friend and I wondered off to a mall nearby and there was an ice skating rink... in the basement level!