Day 3 - The Great Wall

So we began yesterday with a visit to the Beijing International Christian Church service, was a great experience. It is a church for international travelers.

The it was off to the Jade Factory where we learned how to distinguish pure/good Jade from the imitation/low grade. It has to do with the sound of it, pure Jade pings like crystal. It sure is a pretty material and has lots of meaning here in China. It is tradition for a mother to pass a Jade bangle bracelet to her daughter when she turns 16. Now this bracelet has been worn by the mother day and night since she was 16, likely handed down to her from her mother - how special. There is also a tradition for a father to wear a Jade in the shape of his daughter's Chinese Zodiac sign and pass that on to her when she turns 2 or 3. This represents that he will forever be her protector.

From there we had lunch, this was the one with duck as one of the dishes. I did not try it, it had too much fat on it for me. Jason gave it a shot, said it tasted like turkey, a little chewier. The food has been great, lots of options and variety of things to try. Our lunch was huge yesterday as you will see from the photo I posted of our table. Food is served family style here in China so you share a variety of dishes with everyone at the table. The only problem we ran into was that they gave you all this food but they only give you a "saucer" sized plate. So it's a little here, little there, refilling along the way.

Then it was on to the famous Great Wall. Wow, is all I can really say about this place. To know that it is man made is awe striking when you see how steep the steps we climbed were. We tackled the steepest point presented to us and made it to the first tower but no further than that. I meant to count how many steps but forgot by the time we went back down. It was tough and had to pause a few times along the way to catch our breaths. Then between the smog, altitude and intensity from climbing, Jason had an asthma attack. Luckily, I had his inhaler on me and after a few puffs and time to catch his breath we headed back down, which is kind of dangerous in itself. The steps are uneven in height so it's hard to get a rhythm going. But we can now say we've been there and did it!

From there it was dinner, which was a little small in amount than lunch. That was good because I really wasn't all the hungry yet since we didn't finish lunch till 2pm and had dinner at about 5:30.

After dinner it was back to the hotel for about 15 minutes, enough time to use the Western potty and exchange my contacts for glasses. We finished the evening with a trip to the theatre to watch a 60 minute acrobatic act - WOW, some of the things they did made my body ache, or perhaps that was just from being on my feet so much the past few days. See the photos, you'll see why.

Well today is the day, GOTCHA DAY. About 12 hours from now we should have our Tian Tian. Can't wait to share that experience with you. Time to get in the shower and be on the bus by 5:30am to head to the airport.

Don't forget to go to the photo page, link is above!