We're on the flight to Xian so I will try to catch up on the last
couple of days. We were up at 6:30 for our visit to the Great wall. It took us
2 1/2 hours to drive there. We had a choice of going left which was the easiest
or going right which was the hardest but since there was a cache at the top on
the right we headed right. It didn't take long before we were out of breath but
what a view and what a feeling to be climbing the Great Wall. I can not
describe it except to say Wow! Even if there was a lot of people on the right
side, there was maybe only a third of the people compared to the left side.
 |
| Notice Rollande getting her picture taken by a local behind Jacques' back |
One of the ladies from our group tripped and hurt her wrist while
getting off the bus but thankfully nothing was broken. (when she arrived in Canada,
she found out that it was broken.)
I am totally amazed at all the flowers there are all over Beijing.
We have been getting great weather with 25 to 28 degrees every day since we
arrived.
We visited the cloisonné factory after lunch. We did not buy
anything there, but we did buy some chop sticks at the Great wall. They wanted
150 yuans for a set of 2 but she came down to 100 since we bought 2 sets. (We
later found the same set with 6 pairs at about half the price). They are boxed
and have really nice designs on them. We also ordered a jade stamp for Bianca
which we will give to her when she is older. This was bought through our guide.
If we'd had time to think we probably would not have bought it.
Afterwards we went on the rickshaw ride. It was much longer than I
had anticipated. Halfway we stopped to
visit a house which is supposedly worth 20 million. It was very dumpy, and the
kitchen was not very clean or modern and very smelly. I've seen better kitchens
in campgrounds. I cannot imagine living in conditions like that. The house is built around a court yard and
you must go outdoors to go to a different room. It's a B&B but you couldn't
pay me enough to stay there.
