Our trip to China has undoubtedly been one of bests, firsts and worsts, with so many new experiences for all of us.

The stay in Confucius’ birthplace of Qufu was certainly an interesting experience: our hotel was not particularly luxurious and everyone felt a little low after a long journey from Jinan, but we all really enjoyed a beautiful walk around the Confucius temple and the Confucius mansion in the sun the next day.

The Confucius temple at Qufu was begun in 478 BC, and it is one of the three largest ancient architectural complexes in China. Despite having been destroyed and burned down at various points in history, the Confucius temple was really peaceful and ornately decorated with lots of traditional Chinese patterns and colours.

Also during our stay, we visited a market in Qufu. It was really interesting to see a street where tourists were buying gifts and souvenirs, as well as local people buying groceries and chatting to their friends in the street.

We left early the next day to head to Beijing – a seven hour journey! Most people on the bus enjoyed a really long sleep after an early start and to catch up with sleep ahead of a busy week sightseeing in Beijing.

Harriet Patterson