DISCLAIMER: Don't get mad at me for such a long bulletin. These things happen.

Beijing is one huge renovation project right now. All around the place, the roads and parks are being ripped up and new ones are taking their place. It's all in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. My teammate, Bethany, was in Beijing the same time last year and she said it was unbelievable how much the city has changed over just one year. It's a testament to how China can really kick things into gear.

Just before the big day begins, let me talk about the hotel. It's called the Central Garden Hotel. A four-star hotel. We were put up by the State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs, or SAFEA. It was a very nice hotel. The chairs were made of that very nice Chinese red wood and had a wonderful design of a horse. Plus, I was impressed by the card key system they had for the rooms. Once you get in the room, you have to insert your card in this slot in order that all the lights and appliances turn on. And when you leave the room, you have to grab the card out of the slot. If you forgot to turn anything off, they would automatically shut off because there is no card in the slot. Cool, eh? At least I thought it was cool.

Also, just behind the hotel was the new Beijing Aquarium (that's what everyone else told me it was). It's a big round building and it looks very impressive. Anyway, enough of the hotel.

We were off to the Great Wall early that morning. Apparently, we went to a newly opened part of the Wall. There was a temple dedicated to the Three Kingdoms general, Guan Yu. It is definitely as impressive as people make it out to be. The climb was a steep one under the blazing sun. It was a definite workout for all of us. It's hard to imagine how people could fight on this wall. The climb alone should have killed any soldier.

Our guests, the SAFEA, took us to lunch at one of those infamous Friendship Stores. A word of advice: these stores carry a lot of nice things, but you can probably get them cheaper on the streets of Beijing. Shortly after lunch, we quickly made our way to the Forbidden City in the middle of Beijing.

The Forbidden City was undergoing a massive restoration when we arrived. New paint is being applied. The weeds are being pulled out from between the cobbles.

Inside the city, there is a lot of symbolism. For example, there are 5 bridges near the main entrance. I think each bridge was representative of a Confucian principle (Rhea, correct me if I'm wrong here). And only the emperor was allowed to walk down the middle bridge. There were also 16 huge pots in front of the first throne building. A provincial teammate of mine, Christine, said that each pot represented one of the 16 ancient provinces of China.

The throne rooms were nice and all, but I think you really have to explore to find the really interesting things. Christine had already been to the Forbidden City earlier this year and she wanted to visit the Hall of Clocks in the City. It's filled with clocks that had been made in China since the 1700's and that had been given to the royal court by European envoys. I didn't get to see it, but it will definitely be on my to do list the next time in Beijing. There is also a beautiful garden in the back of the City. There's even a place that is said to be where the emperor sipped his tea. "One lump or two?"

Just when you were too tired to do anything else and jet lag was starting to creep up on you, we still had a banquet to go to at night. Once again, our gracious hosts had arranged everything for us. We all got dressed up and made our way to the restaurant. It was a very good meal. There were some things I had never tried before like a sort of fried liver. That was different. We had very good conversation that night and tried to remember our Chinese ettiquette.

And, it isn't a Chinese banquet with a little singing. Many of the teachers had decided to share the "Hey Girl, Look Over Here" or Kan Guo Lai song with our Foreign Affairs Officers and the Bureau guests. I bowed out of my original part after much coercing on part of my teammates. I was just too tired (isn't that always a great excuse?). Then another teacher had a Chinese song to share. Then, two of the Foreign Affairs Officers, or waiban, decided to share some English songs. One was Edelweiss and the other was John Denver's Country Road. Both of the songs are huge in China.

When things were all said and done, I hit the sack. I was absolutely bushed from the day's activities. It was a very good day, though. The SAFEA did a smashing job. Tomorrow would be another one of those busy days.