Day 1: BEIJING

Today was traveling day, we got up at a decent time and got on the plane. The plane ride was 6 hours long. For the first 5 hours I worked on my blogs, for that last one I watched half of Skyfall. I love that movie J!!! When the flight was over we got in a van and went to The Peninsula, which was our hotel. Then we went to our room and got settled. Me, Captain O, and Rosie all lied down and had a rest, while Mom and Dad figured out what we were going to do. When we got up we headed out for a Peking Duck restaurant. It was a while away and I couldn't wait to get back inside. It is SO polluted. When we were in the airport you could see a faint outline of a forest that would've been bright and clear if it was in the Europe, Oceania or the Americas. We have just arrived at the restaurant and are trying to order. We have no idea what the waitress is saying and they have no idea what we are saying. We finally finished ordering and hoped that they understood us. We had to wait for a while then the duck came out. I was starving, next out was the vegetables then Rosie's ribs with rice. Dinner was so yummy but the next day was even better.

Day 2: BEIJING

The world is my school and today my classroom was at Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City and The Red Theatre. Tiananmen Square was first. This is one of the largest squares in any city of the world and where people gather. Before I was alive but my Mom was still a grown up people gathered there and got killed by the army for protesting the communist party and wanting democracy, wanting freedom. Communism is where the ruler wants everyone to be equal and the same, so everyone had to wear the same clothes and all share money. Some people don't like being communist but in China people are feeling freer and freer everyday, I can tell. China is also getting less communist every day, but the internet is still being tracked so Facebook, Twitter, and all those other ways of talking by computer (not counting your email) are blocked. People do have apps which is like their Facebook and their Twitter where they can use them and the government does something called censorship to them where they delete anything they don't like. They have even thrown people into jail that keep writing things that go against the government. The Chinese have a lot of freedoms like in religion but there is NOT free speech here. The newspapers and TV are all approved and controlled by the government. People can have Instagram though.

While we were here, meetings were going on so we weren't allowed actually in Tiananmen Square we went across the street from it. When we were across the street we were right next to a lady fighting with the police. I kind of wish I knew what they were saying. We carried on walking and were pulled over like 20 times and stood next to people that wanted our picture. It felt like I was able to experience being famous first hand! It's a little crazy but I could tell it meant a lot to the people that wanted a photo of us for us to smile back and be nice. It made me feel like I made their day. After15 sudden mobs and 5 people tapping on our shoulder we went back. We rushed to a taxi hopped in and drove off. The Red Theatre was narrow but tall like a pagoda. Think of 12 airplanes stacked on top of each other, that's how tall it was. Now think of 10 elephants standing next to each other, that's how wide it was. Sticking out was many red metal squares. I wish I knew why they were there. When we entered the theatre there was a little monk holding a mallet and banging it on strange wood drum. This is called a wooden fish and is used by monks during meditation. When he left for a toilet break we got a picture with him. The show was about to start, it's called 'The Legend of Kung Fu'.

It started off with a little boy not wanting to go learn Kung Fu because he might never see his mother again. Then the master tells him a story about a boy like himself who came here and also didn't want to go. Then he went and trained really hard after completing the hardest obstacles he still wasn't strong enough, and then his mother died and he became very weak. After a while he also lost his master and became the new master that taught the young boy. It is very hard to become a Kung Fu master. It takes 3-6 years to complete. You have to strengthen every cell in your body.

1. Head

a. You do a headstand with someone holding your legs for one hour everyday for one year.

b. People bang your head up against a punching bag for 2 hours for one year.

c. You would have a partner bang the side of their hand on your forehead for one hour everyday for one year.

2. Neck:

a. You hang by your neck for one hour everyday for one year

b. A partner would hold a sphere on your Adams Apple then you would bend the sphere by walking towards your partner.

3. Stomach:

a. You would have 3 people in a group. You are one, which would put your stomach on a sphere that is connected to the ground. One other person would hold a sphere at your Adams Apple. The last person supervised them to make sure everything was going alright and the person with the sphere on their Adams Apple was still alive.

b. 3 knifes are put in wood with a little bit sticking out. Then you lie on your back on top of this. After that, nails are put into wood with the sharp end sticking out and they are put on your stomach. Someone then lays on you making the nails press down. This person puts a thick metal bar on top of them, then the last person has a wooden hammer and pounds on the human stack. This pressed the nails even further down. Don't worry. They did this in the show and he came out alive. P.S. He does this every day.

4. Legs:

a. They would do 3.a. and sometimes put spheres at the legs too.

These people were sort of actors to tell the story but first before acting they were real Kung Fu experts. They did all the Kung Fu forms REALLY super fast and even some fighting but they only fight to keep peace. Kung Fu actually started with monks in China to defend themselves and keep peace.

Day 3: BEIJING

Today was another early morning, but I got up super early and went to the gym. I worked out for around 30-minutes. Then it was time for a rushed breakfast. Once I finished stuffing food in my mouth because we had to rush to meet Mario and his friend- our driver and guide. You might be thinking where we're going, well here's the answer. The Great Wall of China. We got in the van and headed on a 1-hour drive. I had to sit in the front because I get bus-sick. When we arrived at the Great Wall we ate in a buffet restaurant right next to the entrance of the Great Wall. It was so yummy! We had just entered the Great Wall and are climbing like mad. Views from the Great Wall would be much better if you can see something else besides P-2.5, which is pollution smaller than 2.5 and able to be breathed right into your lungs and get right into your blood. Once it gets in your lungs it can stay there forever and make you really sick. We were totally surrounded by this, it was disgusting. Except for the P-2.5 everywhere, the experience was beyond belief, I was astonished. It was amazing, if you look into the distance you could faintly see the wall going on for what seems like forever, it goes half way across China. I was walking like crazy and then it became even more crazier. The wall turned into a 180 degree angle. I was literally leaning so far forwards I should have fallen over- even walking up stairs! It smelled a bit stinky. When we got to a little shack we said, "time to turn around". The wind was rising and it was slowly getting colder. Going back down the stairs seemed a lot harder than going up, because I had to lean back and the handrail was so low. I also felt like I was going to slip. It was even scarier because no stair was the same as another, and they were kind of slippery. I was also a little tired.

Beijing is super polluted but is also one of the most secure places on earth. I say this because we went through so much in the airport just for security. We probably spent at least an hour doing this.

<3 World Rings Bell