Despite seeing some of China’s greatest historical treasures, students were delighted to see one of the country’s greatest natural treasures in the pandas at the Chongqing zoo. (Photo credit: Curtis Chan)

By Caroline Deakins

These past two days have been a whirlwind of laughs, good food, and more adventures. Yesterday our expedition featured an interesting climb up to Shibaozhai Pagoda. Beginning with a not so sturdy footbridge over the river, on to the treacherous wooden stairs, and up the slippery boulders, our entire group was fortunate enough to make it in one piece. From the top of the temple, our efforts were rewarded with a gorgeous view of the river and it’s surrounding mountains. I never did get used to the breath taking views we experienced along the cruise. After some much needed nap time, we joined the rest of the cruise for a late night talent show. Kate and Paul even demonstrated some stellar swing dancing.

The students’ final excursion was to the Shibaozhai Pagoda, a 12-story structure built into the side of a rock wall overlooking the Yangtze River. (Photo credit: Curtis Chan)

Today, we disembarked from the cruise ship. Luggage in hand, we crossed some pretty sketchy metal planks and climbed multiple flights of stairs. Slightly winded, we boarded our tour bus and headed to the city of Chongqing. Our first stop was the zoo in order to see some pretty awesome pandas. They were munching on their bamboo, snoozing, and even peeing a little- or a lot. After some selfies with emus and elephants, we headed off to a marketplace along side of a mountain. This eleven floor structure was quite the engineering feat, as we entered on the first floor, climbed around a water fall, and headed to the top only to emerge on the top floor, ground level with another street. After a much needed Starbucks pit stop, we experienced the native spicy food of Chongqing. After an afternoon trip to the Three Gorges Museum of Chongqing, we were able to check into our hotel for some much needed R&R. For dinner, some headed out to enjoy authentic local cuisine, while myself and others (the less adventurous) went to Pizza Hut for a fresh reminder of home. All in all, it’s been a fantastic two days.