13:

So yesterday was October 1st, marking the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Coincidentally, I took up my friend's offer to visit the Capital Museum, and there, we saw the original microphone that Mao used! My friend's Chinese friend offered to take us to Tiananmen Square, but I really could not handle those types of crowds after the museum.

Anyway, everyone gets the week off at Beida. So of course, we took the chance to go travel. Here's what's going on: tomorrow, the program is taking us all to Chengde (承德), which is a small town in Hebei (河北), just north of Beijing to see the Summer Palace there. Then we return to Beijing. Then a group of friends and me (Branka, Fran, Mary, Katie, Lars, Kaj, Nik, Victoria, Caitlin, and Ben) are all heading out to Xian (西安), the capital of the Shaanxi (陕西) province, and seeing the Terracotta warriors there. After that, we're going to Tianshui (天水), a tiny town in Gansu (甘肃) province, to see this mountain that ancient peoples lived in (I swear, this is going to be my 5th or 6th underground/in mountain town). After that, we're coming back to Beijing on Monday. I'm not planning on bringing my laptop, so I'll be taking a week long hiatus. But I promise I will return with stories and fun cultural tidbits!