China: Day 4 and 5

I awoke knowing that today would be less exciting as the previous two. I had done research on the Beijing area before leaving and I knew that we had basically seen all that there was to see in that great city.

After breakfast we loaded up and went to a famous bridge on the western outskirts of the city. I'm afraid I don't remember the name, but it wasn't very impressive. However, I did get some nice shots of the early morning.

After the usual photo shoots we headed on. This time we went to the site of the Peking Man, a early human ancestor. It was pretty interesting and had some neat little canyons and stuff. The biggest thing that stuck out to me though was the blatant propaganda. There were numerous mentions of the great Chinese state and how beautiful and great China is and the government party is. I thought it was funny. I don' t think I had actually seen stuff worded like this before so I got a kick out of it.

This day seemed more rushed than usual and before we knew it, we were on the bus again heading back to Beijing. Lunch was definitely better than the previous day. Today we had Chinese noodles. There were several types of sauces and noodles and of course tons of side dishes. I was very satisfied by this meal and was ready for a nap rather than more sight seeing.

Our last real destination was the old summer palace. This place was really neat. I enjoyed roaming around the garden area and seeing the old courtyards. I have to say that I think this place was nicer than the Forbidden City. I guess it must be it's close proximity to nature that lead me to that viewpoint.

The summer palace is home to the longest wooden passage in the world. It made for some great pictures. I scampered about taking pictures and talking with the other travelers. But soon I was tired and opted to sit down and relax. We were eventually called back to the bus for our last dinner.

Dinner was Cantonese food. Boy was it good. Lots of rich, spicy foods and just all around goodness. I spent dinner with the others, talking about our trip and plans after it was done. It was strange. I had only known these people for about 4 days and already we were pretty close.

After dinner Aaron and I went to the convenience store and loaded up on 30 cent beers and some snacks. The girl was much nicer since I used a bit of Chinese with her. We spent our last night in China drinking and watching movies.

The next day was basically us just going back to Japan. I had a little trouble because I look different now than I did when I got my passport (I was 20 when that was done). The Chinese immigration agent almost seemed like he wasn't going to let me leave. I was pretty nervous about it, but finally after about 10 minutes he let me through. I've thus decided to wait to go to China again until after my passport is renewed.

Sorry that this post is so weak. It's been almost 3 months since I went and I've been very lazy to post this.