(Rachel) This morning we woke up tired but excited for the long awaited day ahead of us. We got on the bus and rested, talked and sang for over an hour to finally arrive at the tourist area for a toilet stop. At this point we had our first glimpse of the Great Wall of China and we were all in awe at how magnificent it was. We then got back on the bus for a short ride to the base of the mountain. As we were taking lots of photos we began our climb up the mountain. We were told that we would be walking 1000 steps but as we hiked up the stairs it definitely felt like more! As we trudged up the mountain side painstakingly, it was all made better when we stopped and looked out at the amazing view. When we finally got to the top we were all buzzing with excitement at the fact that we had reached the Great Wall of China. We walked along the wall for about half an hour taking lots of photos and enjoying the view. We all felt very connected to the culture of China as this is the pride and treasure of the country. I was surprised at how it wasn’t very cold today and the views were so clear as there is hardly any air pollution in the area. Before we left the wall we gathered for a group photo and to learn a bit more about the history of the wall and about the other sections of the wall near Beijing. Today we went to the Mutianyu section but we now are all keen to visit other sections as our experience was so impressive and better than in photos. We then were told we needed to go back and were all sad but excited for the trip down. Some of us chose to take the stairs but the majority took the toboggan.
(Eddy)
The toboggan ride was inspiring and had a delightful pace; it was an exhilarating and exciting finish to the cultural learning experience on the Great Wall of China. Going on an educational visit to the wall was an enjoyable way to experience the amazing and diverse history of Beijing. Beijing has been the capital of China for a long time so it has a lot of culturally inspiring history to learn about. The long bus drive gave me a good opportunity to discuss and analyse my feelings in my learning journey document. When we got back to our rooms I was excited to experience some refreshing and rejuvenating rest to prepare for another educational and thought provoking day, but before I got to experience sleeping I decided to write a complex and interesting reflection about this day.
