The furthest I’ve ever been from home is either Turkey or China. The reason I say this is because if we were flying from my home (Houston, TX) towards the East, then it would be Turkey. But if we were flying towards the West, then it would be China.
In Turkey, I don’t remember much, in fact, I don’t remember anything except how cold the water was, and that it was very sunny. Back then, I was living in Russia, so it wasn’t that far. But now that I’m living in Houston, I thought I should mention it.
If were talking about China, then I can tell you a lot more. In China, we joined a tour, and we went to 6 cities: Shanghai, Beijing, Xi’an, and the rest I don’t remember. In all 6 cities, I’m pretty sure that we had 5-star hotels (awesome!!!!).
In Beijing, I can’t remember much that happened, except the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was actually an Enormous palace that was forbidden for obvious reasons except to the people that the emperor knew very closely.
In Shanghai, we watched a very nice dance show, as well as taste several impressive aspects of the Chinese cuisine, which featured duck with some interesting sauce. And last but not least, we went on a little cruise down some river, during which we saw all of the buildings on its banks light up.
In Xi’an, we saw the terra cotta army, which was very cool, except that not all of them had been restored. There were multiple different sections, each one with their own little regiment, including cavalry, foot soldiers, and archers. It was all very interesting to see these ancient statues still live to this day.
In some city, I can’t remember which one for the life of me, we trekked on the Great Wall of China. At the base was a little tourist attraction, and I remember vividly looking around and watching everything that was going on.
The steps on the Wall were irregular, making it extremely hard to cross. Just to mention some facts about the Great Wall, it’s actually made out of dirt! The dirt bricks were put into a box with no top, and were stomped down until they were as hard as rock. That’s how it still stands to this day!
Another thing I’m pretty sure all of you guys know about the Great Wall of China is that it’s the only man made object that is visible from space. Just to wrap your mind around it, something made at least over 1000 years ago is visible from space, and we still haven’t been able to make anything that’s visible.
While I was on the Great Wall, I noticed that there were multiple little kiosks set up here and there on the towers. One of the person took a stone tablet that was shiny and black, and turned it into a picture using, I think, a device that etched a little line into the stone.
We also saw the grave of one of China’s most powerful and respected emperors. His grave is actually a huge mound, underneath which is a ginormous palace with a river of mercury floating through it. The reason why nobody has opened it yet is because the air will corrode the beautiful paintings and tapestries, and we want to preserve it as long as possible.
Well there you have it. I trekked the Great Wall of China in Beijing (yes, I remembered!) saw emperor grave, looked at the Terra Cotta army in Xi’an, floated on an old river barge, saw a ton of buildings light up in Xi’an, been to the Forbidden City, (as well as get myself some Buda statues and a dragon statue made out of wood).
With the vast Pacific ocean separating the US and China, I’m sure that China is the furthest I’ve ever been from home. How about you?
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