Only 17 days...

I seriously cannot believe that in literally 17 days I will be leaving on a plane to China.

China Itinerary!

Thursday 11/17 - Leaving Burlington, Vermont at 6:00am, land in Newark, New Jersey at 7:30am. Leaving Newark at 11:40am, arriving in Beijing, China at 2:35pm on Friday 11/18

Friday 11/18 - Arrive in Beijing and settle into our Hotel. We will be staying at The Jade Garden Hotel. We are going to explore our neighborhood and have a hot pot dinner.

Saturday 11/19 - Exploring downtown Beijing - Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, and Pearl Market.

Tiananmen SquareForbidden CityPearl Market

Sunday 11/20 - Exploring downtown Beijing - neighborhood HuTong tour, Summer Palace, Hong Hai Lake.

Summer Palace

Monday 11/21 - Great Wall of China Tour: Badaling, Juyonogguan, Mutianyu.


Tuesday 11/22 - OPEN DAY!

Wednesday 11/23 - Great Wall of China Tour Day 2. Hiking from Gubeikou to Jinshanling.

Thursday 11/24 - OPEN DAY!

Friday 11/25 - Final Beijing wrap-up; pack for the airport. Leave Beijing at 5:25pm, arrive in Newark at 4:20pm. Leave Newark at 6:41pm and land in Burlington at 9:39pm.


Fun Fact: Beijing is 12 hours ahead of us here in the United States. If its Monday night at 5pm, in Beijing its Tuesday morning at 5am.

10 Things About China

As my trip to China approaches I realize that I know very little about China, but that is all about to change. I have been studying Chinese culture and learning new things everyday. But my knowledge is still limited.






I am going to make a list of 10 things that I know about China:

1. China is HUGE... It takes up most of Asia.

2. Most of the stuff I buy is made in China
3. Mulan was a great Disney Movie!
4. Chinese food is amazing (except for when they eat gross things).
5. The Great Wall is located there.
6. China has some great architecture.
7. There are 55 ethnic minorities in China.
8. Chinese is really hard to read.
9. They use chopsticks.
10. They have Pandas!

Recently I was watching television and a documentary came on Current TV, the documentary was part of a television series called Vanguard. This particular documentary covered the issue of Tiger Farms. Before watching this documentary I didn't even know there was such a thing. After watching this I just needed to find out more.



I read an article from the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times about the topic to learn more. Tigers have been illegal to trade in China since 1993, but people find a way around it. Xiongsen Tiger and Bear Mountain Village is located in Guilin, it is China's largest tiger breeding operation. The tigers in the park are killed and then sold for their parts. Tiger parts are very sought after in China. The bones of a tiger are used to make tiger bone wine which is said to cure rheumatism and arthritis, and to prolong life. Even though the trade of tiger is illegal it is still surprisingly easy to find the wine. With only less than 20 wild tigers in China, and China's obsession for tiger parts, there is no hope for tigers. Even with the tiger parks that are supposed to be breeding tigers to be released into the wild, it's not going to help anything when the tigers are being killed for their parts.


There are many different controversies that are happening in China. I am very interested in learning about some of the problems that are going on. I am very excited to go to China only 43 days to go!