What a 'Wonder'ful Sight

We are starting to settle in to China a little more each day. One of the biggest adjustments is of course the time change; from the east coast, there is a twelve hour difference and from the west coast it is a fifteen hour difference. It goes without saying that there are many droopy eyes by the time the early afternoon/evening approaches and the hardest part is keeping yourself awake late enough so you are not waking up at the wee hours of the morning. Hopefully over the next few days we will all be pretty much adjusted. Another big adjustment is normally the food. However, our current accommodation at the Beijing Normal University, which is the home base for the USOC (United States Olympic Committee), has made the experience much different than past trips to China. The USOC has done a tremendous job and even though we are currently one of the only teams here (along with the boxers), the American culinary experts they have brought in are preparing some very delicious meals. The first few days have been set up without training scheduled in hopes that it helps us recover and adjust from the travel. Instead of training, we have been lucky enough to get to spend some time sightseeing here in Beijing. The first places we visited were Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The square is a large plaza near the center of Beijing and is named for the gate that sits to its North, separating it from the Forbidden City. Outside of China, the square is most widely known for the Protests of 1989. The Forbidden City was the Chinese Imperial Palace from the mid-Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost five centuries it served as the home of the emperor and his household. The architecture and gardens here were so remarkable to see. Much of the design and architecture to the city was pretty meticulously planned and symbolized different aspects of the imperial power, so it was interesting to hear all of the stories.
The next place, which I think may be the highlight of my trip, was our visit to the Great Wall. We traveled to the Badaling section of the wall and were immediately amazed at the magnificence of it all. It is so hard to fathom just how exactly they built something of this grandeur, but I guess that is part of what makes it one of the Seven Wonders. We only spent about an hour and a half hiking the wall, but I think that was more than enough for most of us. There was an easy route and a difficult route, and being the top caliber athletes we all are, of course we chose the more difficult of the two. It was quite a workout trekking up the extremely steep hills and stairs, but definitely well worth the pain in the end; how many people can actually say they have climbed the Great Wall? By the time we had fully descended the wall, I think the majority of our legs felt a bit like jelly and we were glad to get on the air conditioned bus and relax for a bit. On the way home, we drove by the Olympic Center to get a chance to see the buildings/architecture, since we will not actually be staying in the Olympic Village until later in the Games. We mainly saw the Water Cube and the Bird’s Nest, but the buildings are even more amazing to see in person than what I have seen in photos.
This morning we will have our first training here at Beijing Normal University and then this evening we will take a train to Qinhuangdao, which is the site of our first two games.