Today, we all woke up to a 6am wake up call and ate a lovely breakfast at the hotel’s buffet. We then hopped on the bus and headed to a public park outside the Temple of Heaven, fully equipped with different kinds of exercise gear. After playing some shuttlecock with a few of the locals, we headed to the Temple of Heaven, where quite a few of us were asked by strangers for pictures with them.
We hopped back on the bus and made our way to a quick Tai chi lesson, which we may or may not have butchered. Afterwards, we walked to our lunch spot, ate lunch, and then rode rickshaws to Tiananmen Square and visited the Forbidden City. After we left the Forbidden City, we went to one of the most well-known Peking duck restaurants in China. Right after dinner, we came back to the hotel and wrote down words or phrases we’ve used while on the trip as well as translating signs we’ve seen.
— Erica and Italia