Lugou Brigde

Today, after a bad night (because of the cold) we (Kaho, Beth and I) went to Lugou Bridge, or as the English say: Marco Polo bridge. It is a beautiful, historical bridge which Marco Polo described in one of his books. It is also the bridge were the Japanese soldiers started invading China in the Second World War. Kaho really wanted to go there and commemorated this. There was a big memorial for the 'Japanese aggression against China' and a museum dedicated to the war.
The bridge itself was really nice. Only the scenery around it: roads and some high buildings. Not that nice I think. These statues where near the bridge and Beth insisted on making pictures on the animals. I really want to ride a camel here in China.. so know at least I can say I already did.

We went inside the museum and I learned a lot about the Second World War in Azia. I did not know that much about it, because in school we mostly learn about our own history and that of Europe. It was very interesting and very sad as well. The museum was very visual..
It all made me wonder about war, peace, safety and other things. I had a long talk with Beth about all this. We talked about all sorts of things: starting about war, 9-11, and then to some lighter subjects like school and growing-up. I think it is so much fun to talk about this, because then you discover the differences between our cultures.

Today we also did some good souvenir shopping. Kaho was already done with hers, I think. Beth bought a lot for herself and I bought for myself and for some people at home. I bought a great souvenir for my boyfriend today (and that is all that I am going to say about it). For myself I bought a compass (for my traveling) and a stone stamp with my Chinese name carved in it! I love it. It looks so very, very cool =]

After this long, long day we concluded the day with an appropriate Japanese meal and I was looking forward to going home. And this made me feel a little weird. Because with home I actually meant going back to the apartment in Beijing.