Waking up at 6:00 a.m. wasn’t easy, but it was worth it. After breakfast at 6:30, we left at 7:00 with our tour guide, Li Shao Jie, and headed to Tian’anmen Square (天安门). Even though the line was long, it actually turned into a really meaningful experience. While we were waiting, we got the chance to interact with students who live in China. Some of us played rock-paper-scissors with them, while others took pictures together. It felt like we were taking what we had learned in school about building bonds with the community around us and actually applying it in real life.
When we finally got inside Tian’anmen Square, it was beautiful. There were fountains, paintings, and colorful buildings with red, blue, and gold details that really stood out. Li Shao Jie told us how gold symbolizes royalty, red symbolizes vitality and joy, while blue symbolizes harmony and immortality.
After walking around for a while, we took a bus to the Forbidden City, where 24 different emperors lived during the Ming and Qing dynasties. There were so many different buildings, including places for the emperor’s concubines, his mother, and the retired empress. It was interesting to see how important tradition and hierarchy were in Chinese history.
During the Forbidden City tour, Li LaoShi even bought us ice cream, which made the whole experience feel more fun and personal. After we finished walking around, we got back on the bus and went to lunch. We had pork, noodles, eggplant, and soup, and everything was honestly really good.
After lunch, it was time to say goodbye to Beijing. Li Shao Jie took us to the train station where we were going to ride the high-speed rail, but it was also where we had to part ways with him. We were all really sad because he had taught us so much Chinese while we were there, and we even taught him some English words too. As we hugged and exchanged the new terms we had learned in each other’s languages, it felt like a quiet moment of connection and respect. It was a reminder of how learning from others and sharing what we know can bring people together, even across cultures.
Most of us slept on the train since the ride was about four hours, and when we finally arrived in Xi’an, we met our new tour guide, Michael. Xi’an is his hometown, and he came in with a lot of energy right away. After meeting him, we headed straight to the hotel for dinner and finally got some rest after a full day.