May 16
Our second
full day in Beijing started off in a packed traffic jam, but in a city of 20
million, we couldn't expect anything less in the early morning. We arrived at
the Femur Head Necrosis Hospital, where they specialize in bone joint treatment
through traditional Chinese medicine using acupuncture, herbal medicine and
other specialized traditional medicine. This traditional hospital has 200 beds
and treats approximately 3,000 patients per year, including South Dakota's very
own, Ty Eshenbaum. Our group made a
donation to the hospital before we went to the great wall.
We went to
the JuYong Pass section of the Great Wall.
For most of us this was one of the highlights of the trip so far. Seven of us made it to the highest peak of
the wall which totaled 6,906 steps. The
steps are not regular steps, they ranged from 6-18 inches tall, extremely steep
and very uneven. At some points of the
wall people had to basically crawl with their hands. As we climbed the wall the air got much
thinner and our legs were weaker but, it was a breath taking view and a great
experience for all of us. It's amazing
to think how the wall was made and the amount of labor that was needed to
complete the wall. We also met a group
from Kentucky State and a man from Rochester, Minnesota on the journey up the
wall.
After the Great
Wall, we went to China Ag University. Each of us received a student from Ag
University, at the beginning of the semester, to email back and forth and get
to know. It was so cool for us to finally get to see who we had been talking to
all semester. The girls' had guy pen pals and the guys' received girl pen pals.
They had groups that they got into and introduced each of them individually. It
was awesome to see all the different studies and research projects they had
been working on. Many of them had hobbies like playing ping pong, basketball,
and reading. When we got up and introduced ourselves most of our hobbies
included being outdoors, hunting, fishing, and boating. It's a different
culture here and especially during introductions, you could tell that. We then toured their research facilities,
which are incredible, and then finished with a banquet, including 17 students
from NDSU who were just beginning their China tour.
We made it!
CAU students
Femur head
Great Wall preparation
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