Chengdu, China

This is by far one of my favorite cities in China. We got to spend time with my mom's friend Lhoga from Tibet. This part of China has a lot of Chinese ethnic minorities and the people are very interesting. We ate at Tibetan restaurants and spent time in teahouses in the afternoon.  Lhoga wants to take us to Tibet next year - I can't wait! I got tired of spending time at the hotels so my mom suggested we stay at a hostel which turned out to be an excellent idea.  Lhoga suggested we stay at Molly's Hostel in an area called Little Tibet. We met a lot of people traveling around China and some traveling to Tibet and some to Central Asia. It was fun talking to them and sharing ideas. Another great part was going to the Chinese Opera which i really enjoyed.

Chinese Opera

Xi'an, China

After a long train ride we arrived in Xi'an.  Xi'an is one of the oldest cities in China with more than 3,000 years of history. We got to travel along the Silk Road, visited the Shaanxi History Museum which is one of the biggest museums in China and has collections from the Qin, Zhou, Hang and Tang dynasties.  Muslim Quarters my mom's favorite place to buy Chinese Art, Bell Tower and the Terracotta Army of Emperor Qin were my favorite places to visit in Xi'an.

Muslim Quarters

Beijing, China

After Shanghai we took a bullet train to Beijing.  Beijing feels different to Shanghai. Almost the size of Shanghai it felt a little slower and more relaxed.  We visited the Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, and climbed the Great Wall of China (Mutianyu). Both Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City were packed with people and the fact that it was hot did not help.  Climbing the Great Wall was tiring but in the end we made it.  Summer Palace was more relaxing and beautiful.  I loved the boats on Kunmin Lake and the garden full of flowers.

Tiananmen Square

Summer Palace

End of Summer Camp

Summer Camp is over we are saying goodbye to friends and getting ready to travel to different parts of China - I will miss the people of Shanghai, the energy of the city,  especially my favorite Xiao Long Bao (Steamed Dumplings). I didn't think i would say this but I LOVE SHANGHAI ! I will miss Tokyo Pear and Radikal they are the biggest and the most popular hip-hop group in China. I was sad to miss their concert performing in front of 15,000  people - i was only able to visit them in the music studio.