Today was a very tiring but fun day here in Beijing.  I have not been feeling my best the past few days but I think it is just a combination of the air and the tiredness that comes along with a trip abroad like this.  Today we had two company visits in the morning.  We started off with the usually breakfast in the morning and then hit the road early at 7:50.  Our first company visit was to a vodka distillery in Beijing.  It was not exactly what I had in mind for a company tour but I found it to be very interesting.  During the tour they even allowed us to try free samples.

One thing I disliked about the tour was the very very strong smell of alcohol.  They stored hundreds of gallons in huge vats, which really gave off a strong smell.  His factory was very old and had lower class people working in it.  It reminded me of a large factory that you see in history books during the 1960s or 70s.  The workers all looked very miserable and tired after working countless hours doing the same work every single day.  I felt bad for some of these workers but at the same time it is nice that they even have a job.

The second visit we did today was at a sealant company. I am unsure of the exactly name of the company but they manufacture parts of construction that help insulate buildings and in the long run really reduce a carbon footprint.  My favorite part of the visit was when they took us into the manufacturing facility and we were able to see this huge plant being used to constructs the materials.  To me it looked like a large warehouse filled with workers all doing their designated jobs.  The factory seemed to have a good deal of order to it and everything seemed to be moving along quickly.  The workers at this facility seemed to be using more much more powerful machines and instead of putting labels on can of liquor they were actively constructing materials.

We were all treated to lunch by government officials.  I think that Dr. Gao had a large part in that.  The food was very tasty and well all appreciated it very much.  After lunch we headed back to the hotel for a really quick change of clothes and headed off to our next location.  We were going to the Fragrant Hill and we were all warned for quite a bit of walking that lied ahead of us.  We climbed a hill (not mountain) for about 1 hour and finally reached the top.  The view from the top of the Fragrant Hill was completely breathtaking.  We had a nearly perfect day and could see all of Beijing form where we were standing on top of the mountain.  I was able to take may pictures and was really happing with the trip and was so glad to be there.  Now we are back in the room getting reading for dinner.  We are going to try a new restaurant tonight called lush.  It seems like it will be mostly western foof but we will see when we get there!  I am not very hungry so whatever I do end up getting I will most likely split with my roommate.

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