Geoffrey: Great Wall and Goodbyes

This morning after breakfast we loaded up the bus for our trip to the Great Wall. Breakfast was the last time seeing our volunteers who we had gotten to know so well. We exchanged gifts with the volunteers as I gave them NC State t-shirts and they gave us popular Chinese Opera bookmarks and a bracelet. Since we had such an early morning, I was able to nap during the bus ride to the Wall. Emile and I chose to walk up the Great Wall rather than ride on the lift with some of the others in our delegation. The notoriously steep stairs lived up to their reputation as we hiked up to the Great Wall. It warmed up quickly; the higher we climbed the more layers we lost. The view on top of the Wall was breathtaking, as the Wall itself is surrounded by a beautiful mountain range on all sides.

After speaking with members from other delegations, I learned that many of them flew back today after the Great Wall. As it was such a long flight, I am very glad that we are able to spend more time in Beijing and appreciate more that the city has to offer. We ate lunch at a mall near the hotel and I was able to have authentic Ramen for the first time. The trip has been incredible so far and I’m looking forward to experiencing more of Beijing in the next few days.