Our group were allowed a sleep in today. The wake up call came at 7.30am and we were off to Tai Chi lessons at the Temple of Heaven. Firstly our group were given a lesson by the Tai Chi Master and his class, then we were split into groups and taken through the movements. We all discovered that Tai Chi is a lot harder than it looks and requires enormous self-control, inner strength and smooth movements. There were many recreational pursuits, mainly for older people in the parklands around the Temple of Heaven and some of our students participated in hakky sak with older gentlemen. One of our more reserved students, Connor, also danced some salsa with a local as well.
The artistry and architecture of the Temple of Heaven were magnificent. Our guides, Tom and George, explained that many couples come to the Temple of Heaven for their wedding photos.
Following lunch, we visited what the locals call the "fake-fake" markets. This could be best described as Parklea Markets on steroids. Our group had a great time bargaining with the very determined dealers and buying "brand name" products for extraordinarily cheap prices. It now becomes a challenge for many to work out how they are going to fit their purchases within their luggage.
Our next stop was a church in the centre of Beijing. This was a Catholic Church that was first constructed in 1640 and still conducts services today. We then went for a walk around the retail zone in the centre of Beijing and also to a food market where they offered some delightful specialities including scorpions on a skewer, beetles on a skewer, larvae on a skewer, squid on a skewer and even snake on a skewer. Needless to say, these were for our viewing only.
The next scheduled activity was an amazing acrobatics show, which included contortionists, bicycle tricks, unusual forms of juggling and motorbikes in a spherical cage. The show was extraordinary and had all of us on the edge of our seats. Our final dinner was to include the local specialty, Beijing Duck, known in Sydney as Peking Duck. We greatly enjoyed this meal as a special time to thank and celebrate with our guides, George and Tom. Shalea has learnt how to count in Mandarin and counted our group back onto the bus using her new language skills - very impressive!
Our students have returned to their rooms to repack their bags in readiness for our departure from the hotel at lunchtime tomorrow.
We have included some further student reflections from our time at Crossroads and other parts of our trip:
Connor: During the Hong Kong and service leg of the trip I have learnt that the struggles of having AIDS, living in poverty and even blindness are very real, and that we cannot let people go unthought of and uncared for. I have enjoyed the being able to help practically because through sweat, hard work and a lot of fun we have made changes for the benefit of others. I would be very happy to do more work like this either with Crossroads or any other similar charity.
Shalea: During our visit in Hong Kong, we stayed at Crossroads where we met lovely people, saw new and different things and challenged ourselves, whether that was eating new and different foods or pushing through the heat. I liked all of the activities but the two that really stood out to me the most would have to be the Blind experience and packing the shipping container for the less fortunate people in Zambia. These opportunities made me realise how hard people have it when they're blind and gave me the chance to help poor people in Zambia.
Casey: What stood out for me in China was The Great Wall of China on 4th July.
We walked about 2.5km and over one thousand stairs in about forty five minutes, we also took a shuttle bus then a chair lift up and then started walking and enjoying the amazing view, then when we finished and all merged up again we each rode a toboggan down the mountain.
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