Day 4: The Great Wall really IS GREAT!

Today we visited the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall of China. It's about an hour and a half outside Beijing city but sooooo worth the drive. We walked through a sea of little shops before catching the chair lift up to the top of the mountain. I know some of you are about to have a stroke reading this. Me--Heights--Dangling mid-air from a thin wire cable. Sounds like fun doesn't it? Yes. I liked it about as much as being trapped on an airplane for 15 hours but I did not come all the way to China to be a weenie. By the time we made it to the top I was ready to shoot the Chief. He thought it was hysterical to point below, threaten to shake the chair and say things like "Here it comes!" and "What goes up must come down". Grrrrrr...

The views from the top were absolutely breathtaking. Mutianyu was partially restored in the 80's and is one of the nicer sections of the Great Wall. I snapped a few pictures of the unrepaired section in ruins in the distance. The contrast was obvious. Along the wall there were several vendors spread out along the paths selling snacks, bottled water, etc. One of them had a donkey "parked" below the bottom of the sidestair. Each day they haul drinks and snacks up the mountain from their home in a nearby village to sell to tourists. It takes them 1.5 hours one way to get to the top of the Great Wall. That evening they haul it all back down only to do it all again the next morning. Can you imagine?


I am not going to attempt to describe the beauty of this area. I'll let a few of the 200 photos I took speak for themselves...






This one is for you Sonjie...

After a couple of hours we rode the toboggan down to the base of the mountain. Super COOL (except the guys in front of us were a little pokie). Then Angela took us out to a late lunch. I can officially say I have NEVER met a french fry I didn't like--even in China. :-) Isn't this awesome? It looks like a hashbrown birds nest. Where's the ketchup? JK.

On the way back into Beijing we saw about 30 F14's and helicopters practicing for the National Day celebration in October. China is celebrating 60 years of "New China", as Angela calls it, and the ceremony is going to be HUGE. I have never seen that many military aircraft in perfect formation in my life.

There is so much more I want to remember about Beijing...the bicycles, the traffic, the crazy driving...but each deserve their own blog post and I don't have enough time right now. Angela is taking us to dinner in a bit and then it is back to the room to pack. We are hoping to stay up until at least 9 pm. We slept from 8 pm-5 am this morning so we are close to being on China time...HOORAY! This jet lag thing stinks. Hopefully a few more nights and we'll be completely switched. Lord help me when we have to switch back at home with three children. We leave in the morning to fly to Guangzhou. Please pray for a safe flight and that we make it to the right gate without our guide. She can't go past security so we're on our own after she checks us in. It should be an adventure. Two days until we meet MeiMei...

Wild Man & Little Miss: Did you see your Flat people on the Great Wall of China? How awesome is that? I hope you both have a fun Saturday with Nanny. Please listen and obey and we will Skype you a little later. Two more days until baby sister. We love you all the way to the moon and back again--Mommy and Daddy

P.S. For the record....
the Chief and I have not developed a spare tire since we came to China. We are wearing money belts underneath our clothes which makes us look a little fluffy.