Nov 7 Beijing China

Woke up and headed to the airport at 5 am. We had a good size group of 33 people. Some I cared for and others I didn’t but as a whole it was a good group. Slept the whole way to Beijing catching up on some sleep. Met our tour guide David and then he took us to lunch at a Chinese restaurant (Taiycun Restaurant). After lunch we filled the afternoon with a tour of the Summer Palace. It was an imperial palace built during the 1^st year of Emperor Zhen Yuan of the Jin Dynasty. In 1888 the Empress Dowager Cixi used millions of dollars to reconstruct it and rename it. The area is 75% water wit the palace over looking the lake. We were there late afternoon and the colors and the air reminded me of Fall. We took a Dragon Boat across the lake to get to the palace faster. The view was gorgeous. Got to the other side and walked through the garden along the lake and down the longest corridor in the world. It is covered in paintings in every section but not one picture repeats itself. Also saw this huge marble boat the dowager built to have the most impressive boat but it was so heavy it couldn’t leave the dock. It was white marble covered in designs of colored vines and flowers. Afterwards we headed to the hotel, checked in and then went out to find a jacket because it was cold enough to need one. It was really nice to have fall/cold weather but wasn’t used to it. It was down to 32 degrees F at night! Came back and got ready for dinner. Dinner was at a Peking duck restaurant. It is considered a specialty and they eat all parts of the fuck. I tried duck wings and they were so gross (looked like jelly, but chewy. Ew). The duck meat was actually pretty good especially when we wrapped it up in a flat pancake with a brown sauce. Went back to the hotel and just stayed in. Everyone was exhausted and we had a long day tomorrow.