Feb 22 - Beijing

The morning was clear bright and windy, a relief, since yesterday the fog prevented any long distance viewing... a problem for the Great Wall. Water picked us up early and we headed out. On the way we stopped at a government jade factory and were given a guided tour by one of the English speaking employees. I didn't know jade came in so many different colors (stupid American) they had more of the other colors than green, and they were all beautiful. We got to see how they make the figurines, etc. I was most fascinated by this thing they call a Happy Family Ball, for the obvious reason that it is a ball carved from a solid block of Jade, holes are drilled all over it, then starting from the inside out, three spheres are carved, one inside of the other, so you end up with three spheres inside one another - pretty amazing. The less obvious but more desirable reason I purchased it, is that it guarantees "family harmony" so the kids couldn't argue any more. I guess you have to be Buddhist for it to work, since the kids fought over who seat was who's as soon as we got back in our van. I bought a jade horse for my office desk, this will bring monetary success to me... I hope it works better than the Happy Family ball!

You could see the wall snaking up the mountain some distance away, it became more impressive the closer we got. It was a monstrous thing to behold, all made from solid granite blocks, I don't know how they got the rocks up the hill!? The first section is straight up, the people coming down were carefully putting one foot down at a time, with a death grip on the handrail. Water said it would take a few hours to climb all the way to the top and back down, so we went to grab a snack before starting the steps. They were out of hot water for the noodles, so the hot dogs were the only option, but Stacey thought they might be real DOG hot dogs, i was the only one brave enough to try. They tasted like chicken, so I don't know what was in there...

The kids practically ran up the steps, as you will see in the slide show, Zach is most often ahead. The climb was brutal, and it seemed to go on forever. On the lower steps where everyone started, the steps near the rails had deep grooves worn in them from the heavy foot traffic over the years. There were soldier houses/look out posts at various levels of the wall where we rested. The view from the top was breathtaking, even more so when you imagined how it was constructed. After reaching the top, we went down the other side, trying to catch the kids. When we reached the bottom, the boys told us they had searched in vain for a bathroom while up top, so in desperation, and only as a "last resort" they peed off the Great Wall of China. This, in their words, was the crowning achievement of their lives. After finishing we were gratified to see that only a few others went all the way up and down the other side. This makes the soreness a little easier to bear!

A stop at a Closome (spelling is phonetic, but not right) factory was next. This is where they shape a vase out of Copper, then glue tiny strips of copper onto the surface of the vase in a design or picture, then fill all of the areas defined by the strips with different color sand enamels, then fire it in the oven, and repeat about six or seven times before the finished product is put on a spinning wheel to be polished (all by hand of course) with varying hardness's of stone till it is perfectly smooth. The end product looks like the most beautiful porcelain vase you have seen, but this one is unbreakable (being copper). This factory had a restaurant above it, so we sat down to the now familiar massive quantities of really good food and beer. I think our guide is ordering one of each item on the menu for us... I'm going to have to tell him to slow it down soon or I might be gaining more than just a daughter on this trip!

The Summer Palace was constructed for the mother of one of the emperors as a show of respect. (actually he had a wife and a harem of 3000 concubines... wouldn't you need a place to escape too?) This place was four times larger than the Forbidden City, but covered 70 percent with a man made lake. The most notable features were a covered intricately painted walkway that stretched for at least 3/4 of a mile, and a marble boat (yes it didn't float). Again amazing detail of construction, and incredible that it has lasted this long. Passing thru the gate a street vendor approached Stacey with an "Authentic" Gucci purse for only $25, who could resist this? Well me for one, as I deftly bargained her down to $5, I mean who pays for Gucci, spelled with one "C". In the parking lot we saw another great use of the bicycle - a barrel of fire attached to the back, roasting sweet potatoes for sale! On the way to our next stop, Stacey and I were educated by the kids about the meaning of the word moobs we had overheard them using. Evidentally it is short for Man Boobs, and they had seen a few men with them at the summer palace. Sometimes I think it is safer not to listen in on the kids conversations.

The kids were complaining about going to another "factory", but they ended up enjoying this one the most. It was the pearl factory, where they create and harvest fresh water pearls. The guide actually opened a live oyster and gave us the pearls inside, it had about ten. Lots of different colors, and now I know how to tell if a pearl is real or not... Most fun for Stacey has been buying gifts for Estee. She is planning to give her a gift from China every year on Feb 26th, the day we will get her. Taylor actually made a friend at one of the factories, a Chinese teenager, who also likes rock'n'roll

More food, I think I'm going to be sick... I'll have another bite please. This time it was Peking Duck. It was very tasty, served with cucumbers and rolled up in a tortilla like flat cake. The problem was the entire meal they served to us before they brout out the duck! Full, and with the excersise of the day starting to catch up with us, we were taken to an acrobatics show. Those little people are impressive, I couldn't believe some of the things they pulled off. By the time the show was over, we were beat. Bed was the only thing we were thinking about.