Beijing Tours - Day 2

Today is the day the boys are most excited about - walking on the Great Wall of China! We started out again at 8:30am after a much needed night's sleep. We are experiencing light showers today and as inconvenient as it is to have to use the umbrella it has helped to keep the temperature and crowds down.

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Our first stop of the day was Olympic Park where the 2008 Summer Olympics were held. The first thing we all noticed was how small the whole space was and how close the venues were to one another. It was really neat to stand there and imagine it full of cheering crowds!

Next we went to Ming's Tomb.

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Then we stopped at the jade factory/museum. I was especially excited about this since Eva's Chinese name, Yu, means jade. The setup was more of a high priced jewelry store but I did manage to find Eva a pretty jade cross pendant and a jade/pearl (her birthstone) bracelet. Both of which I'll put away to give her as a gift when she is older.

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From there we headed to lunch. David has been begging Sim to take us through a McDonald's, everyone in our group would like a little American food, but once again it was another Chinese lunch with a lazy susan style table where all the dishes are put on that and everyone shares - like a buffet on your own table. I was more attracted to the large shopping area up front than the food. David called the whole setup a Chinese Stuckey's! We bought all the kids a Christmas ornament; a tradition we have of getting one from every vacation.

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Finally it was time to head to the Great Wall! Fortunately the rain had cleared and it was actually "cold" out which makes it great to go on a walk of this magnatude. The only downside was it is still overcast which didn't make for great pictures. We managed to walk all the way to the top until we reached a locked tower and could go no further. It took us about an hour to go up, photo ops included and only 15 minutes to go down. You actually skid most of the way down; it's very steep! Walking the Great Wall was the perfect ending to our day and our stay here in Beijing!!

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Once again David asked Sim to find us a McDonald's on the way back to the hotel, but an hour later we arrived at the hotel with Sim saying they looked but couldn't find one. Personally, I think it just goes against his grain to take tourists to a non-Chinese restaurant. David and the other men in our group took matters into their own hands. After googling the locations on the computer, taking a picture of the computer screen with the information where they wanted to go, the front desk was able to help them get a taxi to McDonald's and bring dinner back to the room!

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Now we are packing up for our departure tomorrow. We leave for the airport at 6:30am and our flight departs Beijing at 8:20 to Nanjing, the capital city of Eva's province. As much as I have enjoyed our stay in Beijing, we have accomplished what we came for and are ready to get this much closer to Eva!!