May 19th- Last Day in Beijing

Today was an another busy and exhausting day! Without much more time in Beijing, we had a lot more tourism to pack into our morning before out afternoon bullet train back home.

The day began by visiting a Buddhist temple. The temple, unlike many I have seen, is still in use which is really really cool! I got to see people praying and monks, and it is really cool to learn about another religion. The most amazing part of the temple, however, was the statue of the Dalai Lama. It was huge, I think maybe 40 feet tall, and it was all made from ONE single tree. As beautiful as the statue was, the longer I stared at it the sadder I became. I could only imagine how magnificent the original tree must have been. I still wish I could have taken a picture of the statue, but sadly no photos allowed.

After the temple, we went on a rickshaw tour. This was probably the most disappointing part of the trip. We began the tour thinking we would learn more about one of the minority people in China, but instead it was a huge tourist trap. No one was very happy with our tour guide for forcing us on this little tour that ended up being a huge waste of time and money. Too bad we couldn't have done something more cool.

Lunch too wasn't anything big. We ate at the same restaurant as the day of the silk factory, basically the same exact dishes. We then moved on to a pearl factory. It was kinda cool opening up an oyster to see all the pearls inside! I had no idea they made so many! All the girls loved the place, of course, as we all tried not to buy a ton of jewelry.

Finally, it was time to go home. The Beijing train station was a LOT crazier than the one in Dalian, but the security system them was hilarious. You could basically walk in with whatever, but if you brought a drink they made you take a drink of it! They don't care about the weapons, but nothing you can make a bomb out of I guess. The train ride home was long and boring. It was funny that when we walked up the cars to find food, people would stop to look/ take a picture of us. Honestly though, everyone was so happy to get back to Dalian! Guess I better get ready for class tomorrow. ><'