My China Trip Day #5

March 25th, 2010: Today we were going to have our final tour. Everyone woke up at 6:45 am. We changed into our normal clothes, brushed our teeth, and enjoyed a good breakfast. At 8:00 am, we walked to our tour bus. And unbelievably, we had Sherry as our tour guide again! But we had a different taxi driver. The taxi driver drove us to our first place, an ancient street from the Qing Dynasty. When we were there, we walked through the street. Then, Sherry started her tour. Most of the buildings were 200-300 years old! They were rebuilt in the original style of the Qing Dynasty in 2009. Soon, the buildings started to end and we went back to the taxi. The taxi driver drove us to our second destination, the Chinese Opera House. Once we were there, we walked to the opera house. The Chinese Opera House looked like a semi-sphere floating on water. This was because there was a lake around it. Sherry went to ask if it was open, Unfortunately, when she came back she told us it was not open. But Sherry still explained it. The designer of the opera house was a person from France. It was opened during the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Soon, we had to go back to the taxi. We went back and the taxi driver drove us to our third place, the Lama Temple. (雍和宫) When we were there, we went out of the taxi and walked through the entrance. First, we went inside the actual Lama Temple. The temple used to be a palace that the 3rd Emperor got from his father when he was only a prince. But when he became emperor he turned the whole palace to the Lama Temple. Then, we went to a place where there were 3 buddhas. They were the Present Buddha, the Past Buddha, and the Future Buddha. People were even praying to them! Finally, we went to a place where there was a giant buddha. The buddha was 26 meters high and was recorded as the biggest buddha in the world! Soon, we had to go to our next destination. We walked to our fourth destination, the Imperial College. (国子监) Once we were there, we walked through the entrance. But then we had a security check to see if we could go through. After the security check, Sherry started the tour. The Imperial College was where high official children come for college. The best student was Zhuang Yuan. The best student can marry the princess and even go through the middle Meridian Gate! Then, we went inside the Imperial College. This was where the Emperor gave speeches to the students. But the best student couldn't look at the Emperor. Soon, we had to go back to the taxi. We went back and the taxi driver drove us to our fifth destination, a rickshaw station. When we were there, we went out of the taxi and jumped in a chariot. The chariot was connected to a bike. Then, someone went on the bike and drove us to a place to eat. Soon, we were there and we went off our chariots. But we figured out that we were eating at a local family,s house. We went inside and found a table. But then someone was giving us food when we didn't even order yet! Then we remembered this was not at a restaurant. We had a delicious lunch of celery, chicken, potatoes, dumplings, and Jasmine tea. The food was actually better than a restaurant! When we were done our food, we went back in our rickshaws. The bikers drove us back to the rickshaw station. Soon, we were there and we went back in our taxi. The taxi driver drove us to our sixth destination, the panda section of the Beijing Zoo. Once we where there, we walked to the panda section. Along the way, we saw panda sculptures that were painted by children. Once we were there, we saw one weird thing. The pandas were all separated! Sherry said it was because they were fighting too much. Then, we went inside the Olympic Games Panda House. This is where pandas could live inside and happily eat bamboo on a grassy terrain. And none of them were separated. There was even a sandbag with handles on them that you could try to lift up. But when I tried, I couldn't even move it a bit. Then, I saw that it weighed as much as an adult panda, 120 kg! Finally, we went inside the Asian Games Panda House. This was kind of like the Olympic Games Panda House. But the differences were that they lived on a rocky terrain and the pandas were separated. Soon, we had to go back to the taxi. We went back and the tour ended. The taxi driver drove us back to grandma's sister and brother's apartment. We ate a good dinner that they made for us. Then, we had a good night's sleep from the long day.