What I'm most excited to see...Top Three...

My generation has a thing for making lists and rankings. Buzzfeed is a testament to that. As we gear up for our Chinese adventure in four days, here is my list of the top three sites I'm most excited to see.

1. Tiananmen Square
Why not the Great Wall? Don't worry-that's second on my list. But I'm a major fan of Chinese history. In college, I took many courses on the subject, especially on modern Chinese history. Mao Zadong, the Cultural Revolution, Chiang Kai-shek,,,there's something about Tiananmen Square that reminds me of all this history. It's iconic. When we get there, I want to appreciate all that the Square has seen. The Square represents the center of the most important and longest-lived civilization that our planet has ever seen.

2. The Great Wall
I recently learned that you can't actually see the Great Wall from space. That's disappointing. Not that I plan to go to space. But, I still plan on being awed and inspired by one of the greatest structures ever built. I also imagine this year's Christmas card photo will be from here. We also bought a New Mexico flag to take a group picture with from the top. Right now, it's supposed to be 98 degrees on our Wall day. So, we probably need to take pictures early before the sweat takes over.

3. Lantau Island
To be honest, I had never heard of Lantau Island before this trip. But the more I've learned about Hong Kong's largest island intrigues me. And we get to see this guy on the left-the world's largest outdoor bronze Buddha statue. This will be on the final day of the whole trip, so it should be a nice, relaxing end to our adventure.

What I've learned from my travels over the past several years is that it's the experiences that make the trip. When we went to Rome, I was most excited to see the Colosseum. But my most fond memory of Rome is eating pizza outside of the Colosseum. When we went to Germany, I was most excited to see Neuschwanstein Castle, but, most fondly, I look back on chatting up locals in a beer hall. So, while I'm wildly excited to see these sites, I know it will be the experiences, that you can't plan for, that will be the most memorable.