China 2008

1. China 2008 Created by Jack Swearingen

2. We whistle while we work! • Meeting with pen, paper, camera, “mandiary”, and classic La Porte enthusiasm, the 20 Global Students plus alternates meet in Ms. Waligora’s room every Thursday and Saturday to prepare for the trip. We took several field trips including a Port Authority tour, a visit to a museum, a visit to the Chinese Consul's office and of course had to stop for refuel at the 888 Chinese Restaurant to hone in on our chopstick skills.

3. Behind every great event is an even greater woman • Well we had four! Ms. Nancy Li from the Easton Company, Mrs. Lair from the La Porte Education Foundation, Ms. Waligora from the history department of LPHS, and Ms. Lambert our counselor. We owe them a lot for keeping us organized and focused.

4. Name: Cliff Capen • Nickname: The Go-to Dad. • You’ve got a question concerning the most obscure fact about anything, Capen has read several books on it and has multiple collections somewhere in his room. • In a four-to-one struggle with the ladies, this man stood his ground…when actually in contact with the ground…

5. The Kidos • Selected from a large pool of applicants, these sophomores and juniors represent the diversity of La Porte but are all united in their pursuit of excellence, whatever their field. With personalities and faces as vibrant as our costumes, this promises to be the trip of a lifetime; not only because of the amazing country we will visit, but also because of the bond we will form with each other.

6. Here we go, off into the wild blue yonder! No we’re serious! • Traveling above barren, frozen wastes that knew no end, 25 brave Texans travel north into the unknown.

7. Houston, this is United Flight 351, nonstop from Chicago to Beijing. The Bulldogs have landed!

8. Our First View of Beijing

9. We’re really happy to be here, but man we’re tired!!!

10. Happy birthday Patrick Blume!

11. The Scenery in Beijing • Beijing: a city 17 million known for it’s blended style, mixing ancient tradition with cutting-edge modernity.

12. Touring a Chinese University • We toured Tsinghua University in downtown Beijing.

13. The Summer Palace

14. The Longest Art Mural in the World(for the Emperor’s mother-in-law)

15. The Bird’s Nest Stadium

16. All the pretty buildings!

17. The Temple of Heaven

18. The Peking Opera

19. Tiananmen Square • Covering over 100 acres, Tiananmen Square is the largest urban square in the world and is the cultural center of China, even housing Chairman Mao’s remains and being the sight of the famous 1989 protests.

20. The Forbidden City • Built from 1406 to 1420 and covering 720,000 square meters (it felt like we walked all of it!), the Forbidden City was the home of the Emperor from the time it was completed to 1912, when a revolution ended imperialism in China and set up a republic.

21. Beijing Hutong • Narrow streets and ally ways sliced thin through ancient houses make up the architectural detail of this urban area in Beijing.

22. The Great Wall of China • Stretching over 4,000 miles, the Great Wall is a series of fortifications built over the course of ancient Chinese history. Although Ripley’s Believe It or Not in 1932 claimed it could be seen from space, in truth, the Wall cannot.

23. Ming Tomb

24. We went to the Beijing Zoo and they tried to leave us!

25. Nankai High School and our China Buddies!!!!! (The best part of the whole trip)

29. China: noun 1.People's Republic of, a country in E Asia. 1,221,591,778; 3,691,502 sq. mi. (9,560,990 sq. km). Capital: Beijing. 2.Republic of. Also called Nationalist China.a republic consisting mainly of the island of Taiwan off the SE coast of mainland China: under Nationalist control since 1948 but claimed by the People's Republic of China. 16,100,000; 13,885 sq. mi. (35,960 sq. km). Capital: Taipei. 3. An amazing place of great adventure, awesome food, good friends, and many wonderful memories that will continue to last in our hearts and should continue to be instilled in the hearts of others.