August 11th, 2016
We visited the Summer Palace today and least to say it was a journey. First, I would like to applaud the Chinese people for having the physical tolerance to live in such hot and humid weather, seriously, today it was so hot that I began to get chills throughout my entire body while we were exploring. Next, the Summer Palace was more than simply sightseeing; its historic background illuminated the present. We learned about the different emperors and the Dragon Lady, and how through these young emperors she made her policies. We discussed how the palace was built in 1750 but was rebuilt two times by the Dragon Lady.
We also touched basis on what is the representation of the peach in Chinese culture: longevity. Our tour guide “Burton” also mentioned to us how during a birthday celebration, it is a tradition to gift a nice peach and noodles as opposed to a birthday cake like we style in America.
Overall, today was more than a tourist attraction, I learned endurance, perseverance, and team work. It took each one of our support to make it through the 100 degree weather without passing out, and even when we thought it was the last set of stairs, together we would reach the peak just to go down another flight. 