Beijing sightseeing

Day 1:
I'm going to let Brian write part of this post for Mrs. Heinicke's class so he can give some of the history we learned today. We met another couple from Nashville and we all spent the day with our guide at Tiennamen Square, The Forbidden City and The Great Wall. Our guide Cindy was fantastic and so knowledgable on the history of Beijing. It is so different and amazing to be around culture that is hundreds of years old. Everything here was built for a purpose and all words have so much meaning. The colors and architecture were beautiful. In downtown Beijing it feels much like any city but once we were out we quickly realized how drastically different this culture is from our own. Driving is a serious hazard. You make your own lanes-cars, bicycles and people all share the same road space- and somehow it all flows. Food is very different. I can't imagine trying to be in a restaraunt without a guide to order for you. We were blessed with a beautiful, sunny day and I'm so glad we chose to come here first. Tomorrow we fly to Guangzhou for the duration of our trip.
Here is Brian's history lesson:

The Great Wall was built over 2500 years ago and is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. After several modifications and extensions, it now measures over 3,800 miles of actual wall (that is bigger than the distance across the continental United States). It was built to protect the Chinese people from invaders from the North as its height and watchtowers allowed the Chinese archers an advantage over the invaders.

The Forbidden City is the palace of the former emperors (rulers) of China. It contains over 900 buildings and over 8,700 rooms (which means you could live in a different room each day of your life from birth to age 27). Almost all of the buildings have roofs which are colored yellow which was the official color of the emperors. It is the largest surviving palace complex in the world.