Read the duo’s comments about their trip to China last week.
Day 1
Wednesday June 15: Today we had an American breakfast at our hotel, which consisted of both Chinese and American food. After breakfast we left the hotel for the training facility to practice.
The morning workout was very light, just so we could get loosened up for the competition later that afternoon. We got a chance to see the Chinese team that we would be wrestling for the competition. The team that we would be wrestling was called the Beijing Club. These athletes live on the campus where they mainly just train because for the athletes in China, academics are not as important as sports.
After the workout we returned to the hotel where we would be able to go out to eat on our own. That afternoon we chose to eat American at a place called Grandma’s Kitchen. We then returned to the competition.
The Beijing Club is one of the top clubs in the China, so the competition that we faced was at a high level. Tarq won his first match of the week 3-0 and 4-1.
After the dual meet, we stayed at the facility to eat in the cafeteria where the athletes that stay there would eat. The food that we ate for dinner was very traditional Chinese food; therefore many of the wrestlers from the U.S. could not stand to eat much.
After dinner, we came back to the hotel and we had the rest of the night free. Tarq and I chose to go get a body massage. We both agreed that it was very relaxing and helped us get over the 13-hour plane ride.
Day 2
Thursday, June 16: After a day of wrestling on Wednesday, we toured many places in the city on Thursday. The places we visited were Summer Palace, Tian An Men Square and the Forbidden City. Drew and I agree that the Summer Palace was the most impressive sight to see so far. Surrounding the Palace was a man made lake that was very large and was dug six feet deep. The Forbidden City was also a very interesting place. The Forbidden City was home to the Emperor of China. This home of the emperor included 9,999 rooms, mostly to accompany his 3,600 wives that he obtained. Just next to the Forbidden City is the world’s largest city square, known as Tian An Men Square. Our tour guide told us that it is the size of about 60 soccer fields.
Day 3
Friday, June 17: Today was another day of wrestling. In the morning we got to workout with the one Chinese team and then competed in the afternoon. While Tarq was wrestling the calls went in favor of the Chinese two or three times, when they should have gone to Tarq; however he won 1-3, 1-1, 2-0. Tomorrow will be another touring day where we will be visiting the Great Wall and a few more interesting sites.
(more diaries to come)
Wrestling Gear
