We’re high up in the sky soon after takeoff. Time has flown by so fast. A week in Beijing - what an experience! Reflecting back on it all does make me miss it, but all good things come to an end.

Beijing is a populated city of just over 16 million people, Chinese of course, but it was easy to spot the immigrant or tourist, so I never got lost. On arrival we entered the terminal to collect our baggage and Chinese people at passport control greeted us. Trying to figure out what they were saying was challenging as they spoke at the speed of an Emirates airplane. We then walked out to a crowd of people. Luckily, one guy was holding a sign with Pricilla’s name. He was our loyal Charles - a guide, translator and volunteer for the South African delegation.

The trip to the hotel called the “Home of Mayors” took about 40 minutes. We were each given a different looking key and shown to our rooms. I got my own room, 223 to be exact. It was really pretty and comfortable. After relaxing for an hour it was time for our first Chinese meal. And it was not what I was expecting. I thought maybe sweet and sour chicken, beef and oyster sauce, chow mein... I thought wrong! The food was very different from what South Africans call ‘Chinese’. At least we weren’t fed dog which was a relief, but they had rabbit on the menu and if you were wondering, I never ate that. Soon after I heard the bed call my name, and I was asleep. The next morning we visited the Capital Museum. The structure of the building was spectacular, nothing I have ever seen before. It was also very interesting. I learned about the Chinese heritage, traditions, history and even how to write South Africa in Chinese.

Later that day we went to the Science Expo hall to set up our projects and then back to the hotel. We then went for pizza at a little coffee shop near the hotel. It was perfect pizza. Then we headed back to the hotel for dinner, well... let’s call it a snack, after the pizza. Afterwards we went to a department store with five levels which looked sort of like Stuttarfords but with everything you could dream of buying.

The opening ceremony of the 28th Beijing Youth Science Creation Competition was the next day. It was held in an amphitheatre near the display hall. One student representative from each delegation had to go up on stage and say “Beijing Oryun”, which in English means, “Beijing Olympics”. We went to the display hall and started explaining our projects to viewers. The language barrier was difficult but my translator helped me. We then ate dinner at the middle school where the competition was hosted and then returned to the hotel and soon after to the same coffee shop for pizza and the most delicious caramel latte.

The next day the teachers and students were split up. I went to the exhibition hall while they went to a garden. For most of the day we explained our projects to other students, some judges and important people.

That night it was the Multicultural Party. It was held in the amphitheatre. Each delegation had the opportunity to put on a performance and local Chinese performances were also on the program. I did a dance to the Click Song by Miriam Mkeba. It was an African performance as we were the only delegation from the African continent.

We also got the opportunity to see the 2008 Olympic Games stadium which had the structure of a bird’s nest. The stadium where the water sports would be held was in the form of a water cube. They were magnificent pieces of technology.

I loved meeting people from all the other delegations in the world. The delegations from New Zealand, Australia, America, Denmark, Urikrian and South Africa could all talk English, making communications easy.
I got the opportunity to make new friends from different countries and exchange our contact details.

The next day was the closing ceremony and prize giving. I was called onto the stage and presented with a gold medal that represented first prize for excellent performance. Later that day we visited the Summer Palace. In the olden days the Emperor used to go there to spend time sitting by the pond and relaxing. The other rooms were also magnificent. The architecture was unbelievable and the paintings were beautiful. I was able to ask my guide questions and found the palace to be a spectacular place that holds much history of the Chinese nation.
That same night we went to another pizza restaurant called “Big Pizza” which is kind of similar to a Pizza Buffet but still very different to anything I have seen in South Africa. It was really good food, though.

The next morning we were up early to climb the Great Wall of China. We arrived at the bottom of the wall to be frosted by the chills of the wind.
I fetched another jacket from the bus and started the climb. The steepness was hard to overcome and the large amount of people on the wall was overwhelming. We only got three quarters of the way before the others decided to stop and turn around. I decided that I did not climb all this way to not finish. Time was running short so I ran up to the top, took photographs and came down.
 It was astonishing to hear that the Great Wall of China had a length of five thousand kilometers (no wonder you can see it from space!). I have never been so cold in my entire life, but it was all worth it getting to the top. We then went to the Forbidden City that was situated in the middle of the town. This was like an olden day city where the emperor used to stay. I learned that the number of animals shown on a roof showed the importance of the building. That was very interesting.

The last thing on the agenda for that day and the last activity before we left to come home, was shopping at a place called “Silk Street”.  It was like a mall of temporary shops that had many layers each containing different items. It was amazing and bargaining with the people was also a lot of fun.
I enjoyed it even though we were in a big rush and did not have a lot of time to shop.

Have a good week, cya :)