After spending about fourteen hours on the plane, we arrived in Shanghai. There, we waited four hours for the transfer to Beijing. There was free internet at the airport so I didn’t really mind. The flight from Shanghai to Beijing lasted for about two hours. Then the ride from the bus to the hotel was another hour or so. We are currently staying at the Beijing Oriental Culture Hotel. In total, the group spent almost an entire day traveling!

At the hotel, we relaxed for about four hours and then ate dinner. Our dinner was at another hotel, Beijing Qianmen Jianguo Hotel, where we afterward saw a Peking Opera at the Li Yuan Theatre. There were two programs. The first one, Autumn River, was about a nun who falls in love with a scholar and tries to catch up with him by boat after he leaves the nunnery. The second one, Presenting the Pearl on the Rainbow Bridge is about a nymph that breaks the rules of heaven by falling in love with scholar.

After the Opera, we went back to the hotel to rest up for the next day.