I know I am a day behind but I wanted to catch up and post about our day yesterday. It was a long, busy day! I can't believe how much we saw in 3 days in Beijing!
We met in the lobby at about 8:30am and drove to a jade factory. Sean was in heaven---he loves any kind of rock or gemstone! We had to make a few purchasees there! A lot of the places we are taken are government-mandated visits; the jade factory, silk factory, cloisonne, factory, porcelain factory, etc. I can see why they do it---we shopped at all the stops! :-)
Next we drove to the Great Wall. I still can't believe I actually have climbed the Wall! It turns out Sean is frightened of heights and the Wall goes straight up! We didn't end up climbing very far because he was really, really ready to come down, but I can feel the climb we did in my legs! It is incredibly steep and the steps are very uneven. Some are 15 inches high and some are 6 inches high--it makes for hard climbing! I feel like I keep using the same adjectives: awesome, amazing, incredible. Seeing the wall go on for miles was definitely awesome!
After the Wall we went to the cloisonne factory. We got to see how it is made---from copper! You wouldn't believe the detail work that goes into each piece. We had lunch at a restaurant upstairs and were served enough to feed an army! The children in the group weren't too crazy about the fish with the eyeballs staring at us! They put a bottle of some kind of Chinese liquor called "Fire Water" on the table....Mom, Leah, and I tried it and OH! MY! GOODNESS! I can see why it was called firewater! My chest burned for about 15 minutes and I had maybe a teaspoon!
The drive back to beijing took a good hour but on the way back we drove to the Olympic Village. The Chinese people are so proud to have hosted the olympics. The ice cube and the bird's nest were pretty cool to see.
Next stop was to see a Chinese Acrobatics show--WOW! You would not believe the stuff they did! It made you nervous just to watch them! Sean was really worn out by then and not too excited about another stop but you should have seen him watching the show! He was absolutely mesmerized! That may just be his favorite thing so far!
Here are a few pictures from the day....I included a photo of the squatty potty I used at the theatre...no western toilets there! i have been pretty good about only needing potties when there are "real" toilets! Usually a squatty potty means no TP. Nice.
Have I mentioned the pollution is not at all bad? It was MUCH worse in L.A. when I lived there. And the city is just sooooo clean!
How Long Since We Sent LOI?
How Long Have We Been LID?
2 comments:
You know the whole time I was in China I never used a bathroom outside of the hotel. The squatters scared the life out of me as a mom that has had 3 knee surgeries and needs 2 reconstructive. LOL . . what a journey huh? It's still amazing to me.
Feels like we were just there through your pictures!
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