Touring Beijing-Day 1

January 3, 2004

The first night's sleep was bad. We went to bed at 10pm and then were awake around 2am, but went back to sleep for a while before we had to get up. We had breakfast in the hotel and then headed out for the Great Wall. We stopped on the way at a jade factory and bought some things for Jaden (lions and a cute little teapot) and a dragon-phoenix ball for us. They gave us the history of the different types of jade and where they come from...very interesting. We could see parts of the Great Wall as we approached the mountains and were amazed at the size of it. Our guide took us to the Outer Wall, which is larger than the inner, and we were able to walk up very high. The weather was gorgeous and warmer than we expected so we were actually sweating when we got to the top. Not to mention the serious leg burn! I hope our pictures do it justice. After leaving the Wall, we had lunch at a restaurant called the Golden Celestial and loved the food. It was served on a lazy susan (which our guide called suzie, haha) and we all shared the dishes. The restaurant was connected to a Cloisonne factory and we got to see it being made. I never realized how much hard work went into it...very beautiful. Next stop was the Hutong tour. This was my favorite part of the day. We got a ride through the old part of the city in a rickshaw (reminded us of that Seinfeld episode) and actually toured a Chinese home that was around 100 years old. The hutongs (or small lanes) are so narrow that cars don't fit. Our driver was really great and passed lots of people, which couldn't have been easy with our big selves on there! We then went to a square that had a bell tower and a drum tower and were treated to a traditional tea ceremony. We tried green dragon bell and fresh jasmine tea that was hand rolled and very rare. The girl who performed the ceremony was very cute and funny. We just ordered pizza up to our room which should be interesting and are completely exhausted. I don't think we have to worry about waking up in the middle of the night tonight. One day closer to Jaden!