On The Move To China - Day 3

After an interesting morning (up at 3:30, locked out of the bathroom, a visit by the hotel engineer, a stint of reading and a short nap) we were up and out of the room by 9:00 heading to another fun filled day in Beijing. We headed out of the city toward the Great Wall, with several stops on the way.

We arrived first at the Jade Factory – government run of course. We really had a great time seeing all the beautiful pieces and bartering to get the items we wanted at a reasonable price.

Next we were off to the Ming Tombs area. We had a fun walk on the Scared Road, this is part of the road that led from the Forbidden City to the Tombs for the thirteen emperors of the Ming dynasty that were buried in this valley. The animals offered protection for the emperors into the “new world” and we had a great time posing with the statues along the way.

Once again we found ourselves at another factory showroom and store. This time it was the Cloisonne factory. After a yummy lunch we hit the floor shopping. We were surprised by the price of the items – but found a few things for holiday gifts we couldn't’t live without! At this factory shop there was no bargaining for lower prices and we were followed around by a sales clerks the whole time we were shopping. We had to become very skilled at looking at merchandise without stopping or looking interested!

Finally, we made it to the Great Wall. We went to the Juyongguan Path entrance. Boy was it a climb – it was SOOOOOO steep. The stairs varied in heighth and depth. My legs were shaking by time I walked up the hundreds of steps. But the work was worth the climb. We passed many people, old and young, those hiking up as though it were a walk in the park and those that were huffing, puffing and sweating, those who were walking in high heeled boots and we passed and were passed by people speaking many different languages. By time we arrived at the bottom, my legs were fatigued and I could hardly walk, Linda was in great shape and did fine!! It was a beautiful warm day – we couldn't’t have asked for more.

We headed back into Beijing for a ride in a rickshaw around the historic Hutong. Hutong is blocks and blocks of narrow alleys and cramped courtyard dwellings that exemplify the “real” people of Beijing. The houses are attached a block at a time. We went to one of the neighbors residents – meeting a family in this unique courtyard dwelling. We felt bad for them, the place was really run down and old but thought it would be great to renovate one of the courtyard homes. We asked our tour guide, Lynn, how much it would cost to buy one - $500,000 – and this is without bathrooms because none of the houses have plumbing for bathrooms. They have to use the blocks public bathroom facilities. During our ride we found several houses that had been bought and were being renovated.

After a dumpling dinner we headed back to the hotel trying to stay awake for a couple more hours. At 9:00 the bed called to us! We are off to Shanghai tomorrow!


A couple more pictures from the Great Wall