The Great Wall and Other Great Stuff (6-27-2008)

We met up with even more members of the group today. This morning I woke up at 3am, then went back to sleep for another couple of hours. Since I was up, I typed up yesterday's blog at 5am... I am not a morning person in the US, so I guess I had to come half-way around the world to change my sleep habits. Breakfast was great... again.... I love these all-you-can eat full breakfasts! Ok, so I'm easily entertained. There are 39 people in our group today and here we are, getting going in the morning.

Today, we are going to Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, and the Great Wall. For lunch, we will be having Peking Duck at a nice authentic restraunt. Michelle is our guide again today, she goes by several names. Today, we are calling her Grace. She moved to Beijing in 2004. She just told us the story of the first time that she led a large week-long tour. Apparently, throughout the week, she would be explaining to the group how the Emperor's cucumbers were beautiful and that after 3 nights following the wedding, the Emperor would start to chose cucumbers to sleep with, instead of the Emperess. Someone asked about the cucumbers and she said that China has the most beautiful cucumbers in the world. Yes, this whole time, she meant to be saying concubine... not cucumber. Our first stop of the day was Tiananmen Square. Here are several photos of the area. The Chinese characters on the building with the photo of Chairman Mao mean longevity for the Chinese and longevity for people of the world.

Next, we were on to the Forbidden City. We walked about 8km from Tiananmen square through the Forbidden City. Here are some photos of the Forbidden City.

While we were walking, I got the chance to practice my negotiating skills. A lady tried to sell me a fan for 100 Chinese money. I talked her down to getting two fans for 70. Well, I was feeling pretty good till the next lady's starting offer was one fan for 30. And I probably could have even talked her down from that.... Oh well, 70 is only about $10 anyway. We like the fans anyway. The picture of the Turtle/Dragon above symbolizes long life and longevity and is a common symbol. Next up... Lunch

The lunch was great, and Tammy was happy to be in a restraunt full of people who could appreciate her desire to eat all the duck fat and skin possible. Tammy and I are always the last one's eating... I am noticing a pattern. I think I'm going to gain some weight while we are here. After lunch, it was on to the Great Wall. Tammy and I started together, but split up, so that I could walk farther up. The guide explained that we had a choice... we could walk up the difficult route or the more difficult route. Apparently, the better pictures were along the more difficult route, so that is what we took. Tammy walked to the 2nd level and I walked to the 5th. It was very high and although it was misty, it was beautiful.

This picture is of the squatting toilet near the top of where I walked. It was the most disgusting toilet I've ever seen, but I guess you can't get too many janitorial services up there.

When we got back to the hotel, we decided to take a photo outside the hotel, then go out to get a "foot massage." We paid about $32 total for both of us to get a 90 min massage that included arms, hands, legs, back and a ton of time on our feet.... very nice.

After the massage, it was back to the hotel and to bed for the night.... Tomorrow it is time to fly to Guangzhou to go get E.V. -Darrell