Today, we started off the day after a rough and short 3 hour sleep. We had a hearty breakfast and met up with the rest of the group. There are 60 people on this trip and it is pretty crazy to meet everyone.
After getting organized, we headed to the Forbidden City as our first stop, where we really got a feel for the below freezing weather. Seeing Tiananmen Square was neat. We were bombarded by street merchants and everyone stocked up on the warm clothing they didn't have or the ones that weren't adequate enough for this cold. Allen got a Panda hat which was hilarious. The Forbidden City was nice. Luckily, I was in the group with the English speaking guide, though she was pretty hard to understand. Two hours of the Forbidden City is quite enough and every section began to look the same. The view from the top of a hill behind the city was breathtaking though and well worth the hike to the top.
Then we got a great lunch. I opted for vegetarian and got to meet some of the people I'll probably be eating a lot of meals with. It was definitely nice to get to know them though.There is a frozen lake in the area and everyone is out on it playing and sledding.
Later, we went for a bike tour of Houhai (sic) to see some of the neighborhood. This was followed by some relaxation at a bar and then dinner at a famous peking duck restaurant. I tried the duck but was still pretty full from lunch.
I was so tired by that time that I just went home and crashed.
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