Day 5 - Olympic Sized Forbidden City


Day 5 was our final day in Beijing, and we were fortunate enough to have visited the Olympic village. As we arrived, we were welcomed by the official Olympic music that was played for the olympians in 2008. We saw two of the main stadiums where the athletes competed, The Beijing National Stadium and the National Aquatics Center. Although it was raining, we still made the most of our visit by cracking jokes, listening to music, and attempting to talk to the natives. It was a lot of fun.

The Aquatics Center, in particular, was amazing to visit because they had persevered it so well throughout the years. There was an enormous waterpark as well as a concert hall, along with the pools. We saw the practice facilities of the athletes and it was truly a fascinating experience and one that we will not soon forget.

- Georgy Faltaous '18

The day initially could be described with one word: rain. It was pouring for the first portion of our day; people were soaked, wanting to just go back to our hotel, but as soon as we headed off to the great Tiananmen Square, the day took a sharp turn. Slowly the sun crept up and people finally began to dry up. Lin, our tour guide, gave a brief summary of the history of Tiananmen Square, truly showing the importance and how historic the area really is, which fed our excitement to go there. One student, in particular, was extra excited to visit this historic site, mainly out of his heightened interest for Chairman Mao, and his excitement rubbed off on to the rest of the group. When asked why he was so excited to go here, he responded by saying, "the area where I will be standing is the same place where the great Mao Zedong has stood, where students have stood and shed their own blood for protest, and where life changing history has been made." Arriving at the square was no disappointment. All the pictures we have seen of Tiananmen Square came to life as we took our first steps onto it; the rain finally came to a halt and the sun shined on the famous picture of Chairman Mao. We all got our pictures, and this gloomy day turned into a life changing experience.

- Noah Cha '18




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