BEIJING, CHINA

Beijing was beautiful and I will forever wish I got to spend more time there. It was a trip no words can explain and I would do it 100 times over.

We stayed in a hostel and us 10 American girls had much different expectations than what we got. Two girls and I walked into our room after wandering the dark alley to get to our hostel only to find a naked man laying on his bed reading his newspaper. It was terrifying in the moment, but now we can't help to laugh at it. Within the three days we spent there we met a guy from Canada, a couple from France biking across the continents, and another fellow American from Washington.

Beijing was an experience that can never be replicated. 

The Forbidden City was such a cool experience. IT WAS MASSIVE. I didn't realize the Forbidden City was actually the size of a city (duh Dakota). I definitely did not mentally prep my feet! It was so beautiful. I loved walking the same grounds as the people who lived here so long ago.

So funny story... We found out you could dress up for like $5 US Dollars so of course we seized the opportunity. The Chinese people WENT INSANE. We were swarmed within seconds and it was absolute madness. We are stopped ALL THE TIME by people asking to take pictures with us, but this was a whole new level of fame. Each of us were grabbed by random Chinese people and we couldn't get away. After about 10 minutes we finally convinced the people we had to leave and asked someone to take our picture, but like 50 people formed a circle around us and were snapping pictures like we were celebrities. It was seriously crazy. I don't know how real life celebrities deal with it. 

I got to see the Great Wall and it was as grrrrreat. It was so green and luscious and. It was actually difficult to climb and I don't know why I didn't think it wouldn't be hard. Some parts were just directly up and my little non-fit heart was struggling. It was cool to see people from all over the world in one place. Oh and I dug some dirt up with a bamboo stick for my aunt so it's still pure.

I autographed the wall so I am cool now.

The Great Wall is indescribable. Everyone needs to see it at least once (and take me whenever you go).

We ate a scorpion. I don't know why I did it. I truly don't. It was too salty and its tail got stuck on my lip so that was gross. It's hard to see but the scorpions are between our faces.

They were alive and kicking right up until the moment you eat them. It was absolutely terrifying. You can see the sea horses in this picture too. They had snakes and starfish on sticks too :(

We spent too much money at the Silk Market and didn't have enough room to bring every thing home so this was how we had to trek home. 

Getting home from Beijing was an experience itself. We got off the subway and were immediately swarmed by the Chinese taxi drivers. It was actually kind of scary and we were all getting a little panicked. The Chinese SWAT had to come get all the people away from us and then the subway security had to keep the people away from us. I didn't tell my parents about that, but I am still alive so it's okay.