“Ni-haow” said the Chinese airplane stewardess as I stepped on Chinese soil for the first time. In the main halls of the airport we found a man with a sign that had my parents names written in big bold letters. So I grabbed my dad’s hand as we trailed behind the fast paced driver into the parking lot where it was hard to breathe. Without speaking a word the driver loaded our stuff and we got in having no clue where we were going. After what seemed like already hours of driving we hit a fog as thick as pea soup.

As we were diving into the fog we were stopped dead in our tracks, there was an unearthly traffic jam with many 18 wheelers that towered above all the other small vans that were stuck. Then the uninspected happened, he turned around on the highway and went the wrong way, but thankfully after a couple minutes he was stopped by police and they sent us back to the traffic. He drove miserably as if we were ex-convicts going back to jail. Even though I was upset to have to sit in traffic I was amazed by God because of how many people they were and the big trucks that I did not normally see.

Once there he stopped the car while stuck in traffic and abandoned us in it. There we waited and wondered if he would ever come back to save us and reclaim his van. Then we realize he was working with the other drivers to create a new lane for everyone to drive through. A brutal six and a half hours later we made it to a hotel, completely wiped out from the journey. Calling the only man we knew in town that spoke English and could translate to Chinese which could help us. He arrived with everything we needed and we made it upstairs to our room. I instantly fall asleep once I touch the rock hard bed where my head lay on an overstuffed pillow.

The next morning we headed out to the Great Wall and I was so excited. I remembered what I had learned about the Great Wall, how it was 8,851.8 km (5,500 miles) long during the Ming dynasty and could even be seen from space. I walked up 3 miles of the steep path, the stairs were treacherous. Some steps would be 2 inches high while others could be almost half my height. Eventually I reached the highest point of my journey and I looked out and saw miles of a rocky road that stretched on the zenith of the green mountain chain. Then reality hit me again and I was freezing inside my small black sweat shirt and blue jeans. The fresh country air was bitter cold, and was blowing hard against my body, but I still felt amazed at the creation I saw.

On the way down I was asked many times if a person could take a picture with me. I felt like a celebrity because everyone wanted to talk to me and take a photo of me with them. I later understood that there were only a few white people in China so it was special to see a person of a different race.

The following day we went to the Dragon’s Head which is located right outside Beijing. The Dragons head is part of the wall that meets the water in the East China Sea. This time I had the opportunity to walk beside the wall and see all of its magnificence from the ground. Towering up to 7 meters high where I accepted the challenge to climb it but could not find a place to start. Then I slid down the sand hill to the edge of the water so I could jump from one rock to the next like a gazelle. After running around the edge of the wall I saw the real end of the wall where it plunged 50 meters into the ocean.

After taking family pictures at the scenic view we headed back along the beach and up the big sand hill and to the car around the corner. God has given us the ability to build wonders and it is amazing to see how far we have come. And after a ride to the apartment we had another ride back home to Thailand.