Journey of Life

Finally, I reached the final post for our trip to China. As the saying goes, all the good things will come to an end, and this trip will be the memorable one. There was still plenty of time since our flight back home was early the next morning. We couldn't get an extension night but were only allowed to check out of the hotel before 6 pm. Good thing we were able to slot in a half-day tour within the city. That day, we left before 8am to visit the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace. The Temple of Heaven was built during the Ming Dynasty for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for a good harvest. It is located at the southern part of Beijing and there were three other temples: the Temple of Earth (north), the Temple of the Sun (east) and the Temple of the Moon (west). Once we entered through the east gate of the park, we were amazed when we saw elderly people doing healthy physical activities. We walked along the beautiful, handcrafted architecture of the Long Corridor t...

A trip to Beijing is not complete without visiting the Great Wall. This was the day we looked forward to the most. As one of the best preserved Great Wall sections, we visited the Mutianyu section located about 60 km from the hotel. Rose told us that Mutianyu is older than the top-notch Badaling section and less crowded. Once we reached the Mutianyu valley, it was a pretty chilled atmosphere with the heart-pounding feeling of not being able to wait to get our hands on one of the world's seven wonders. The fully restored Great Wall section has been renovated, making it easier and safer to climb. We took a cable car to ascend to the wall section. There are abundant souvenir shops at the base of the mountain. It was pretty cold down there! We bought some of these handicrafts Waiting in line for the cable car ride We made our way up to the hill! I've got to know from the Wiki that the section has the largest construction scale and best quality among all othe...