Beijing - Day 3

Friday morning Karen and I broke down and wore our running shoes for our excursion to the Great Wall because our feet were still tired from the previous day's itinerary. That was a good decision because when climbing a wall first built thousands of years ago, we needed some athletic ability.

Excited to be at the Great Wall

The biggest disappointment of our trip was losing our first guide, James. He informed us late Thursday night that his grandmother had been admitted into the hospital with heart problems. He lived with his grandmother and expected to spend the night with her so he promised that if he was unable to escort us to the Wall the next day, he would leave us in good hands with his tour guide friend Eric.

Our new guide Eric and the same driver arrived after breakfast and we set out for our trip to the Great Wall that would take about 90 minutes. We noticed right away that Eric was quieter than James. And he made us laugh when he thought Karen was in her mid-20s and that I was her younger sister. Either he was seriously kissing up to his clients or he needed new glasses.

Unfortunately there was heavy fog that morning and after learning that the highway was closed because of it, our driver had to get creative to get us to our destination. Of course, the fog also meant that the visibility was not good at the Great Wall either so while we enjoyed our time there, our pictures turned out less than fabulous.

We visited the Mutianyu section of the Wall. The Badaling area is the most popular with tourists because of its close proximity to Beijing so the advantage of Mutianyu is that it is less crowded and offers a beautiful hilly setting. Of course, it's probably more work to climb as well! This particular section of the wall was restored by the Ming dynasty in the late 1300s and became obsolete in the 1700s when the people it was designed to keep out, the Manchu, took over in China.

We cheated because instead of climbing the steep hill up to the Great Wall, we took the cable cars. Eric recommended we save our energy for the wall itself and that seemed like sound logic. Once we reached the top of the hill, we were able to get a better idea of how the wall covers the hills and it really is an amazing sight that so long ago, the people were able to construct it. On the map it appeared that we were starting at one of the highest points and would walk for about an hour downhill before exiting the wall. In reality, we were heading downhill but we still had to climb up and down the hills so it was a bit of a workout with some steep areas and uneven steps.

Right away we encountered a group of school children on a field trip. They were probably 5-6 years old and their faces brightened at the sight of foreigners as they began yelling, "Hello! How are you? What is your name?" They were adorable and they were eager to practice their English skills with us. We spent about 1 1/2 hours walking on the wall, taking pictures, hearing about the history of the structure and enjoying the scenery.

Inside a Watch Tower

We exited the wall by taking a luge slide down the side of the hill. One has to love the modern amenities they have added! And speaking of that, I had to laugh when heading back to the car and noticing the Subway sandwich shop at the base of the wall.

We stopped at a local spot for lunch and toured a cloisonne workshop afterwards. Cloisonne resembles porcelain but is actually copper-based with enamel applied over it. Vases, plates -- they produce all sorts of objects. We browsed through the store and opted to buy a few Christmas ornaments. While looking at different designs, imagine my surprise when Karen spotted a Texas A&M ornament! What a random find at a little shop in China...

Gig 'Em

While shopping in the store, we conversed with the friendly saleswomen. One of the women was pregnant and after hearing that her baby is due in early March, I asked if it is customary to find out the gender. She quickly replied, "The government doesn't allow us to find out because if it's a girl, many women would..." and then made a slashing motion across her neck. Her answer didn't surprise me as I know how many Western couples adopt unwanted Chinese baby girls but I was still shocked at how open she was about it. She then explained that in America, boys and girls are equal but that is not the same in China. I simply replied, "As a woman with 3 daughters, I can't relate to that." And then it brings to mind the gender imbalance in Beijing. I wonder how bad it will become before they realize the value of women.

We made our way back towards Beijing and visited the Summer Palace. The emperors used this sprawling area as a summer retreat from the Forbidden City and I could appreciate how refreshing it would be to be surrounding by a large lake and forests after seeing their other residence. Late in the afternoon, the sun was already fading and the foggy weather made the palace grounds a little eerie. This is also where I began to get burned out on imperial structures. Everything began to look the same to me and I wished that someone would have considered painting an object other than a dragon.

Foggy afternoon at the Summer Palace

Painted ceiling at Summer Palace

We also discovered that Eric was no substitute for James as a guide. James would offer information and seemed to enjoy conversing with us. James was interested in hearing about Singapore and life in the US. Eric had to be prodded to provide details and when he spoke about his country, he had an air of superiority that irritated us. He couldn't care less to hear our input. He also grouped us together with Europeans which we found humorous and Karen wouldn't let it pass. Everytime he would start on "I know Europeans..." she would reply, "That's nice, but we're Americans." He was inferior as a guide and his Communist supremecy talk was a little much but we sure had fun sharing our Western observations with him, just to provoke him.
 
We spent Friday night at our hotel resting our feet while dining at a restaurant there and having a drink at the bar. We informed Eric that we wanted Saturday morning off from touring and we were ecstatic about our plans to sleep in and enjoy some downtime on our final day in Beijing.