The Great Wall

Started the day at 8am and it was raining. We redid our itinerary to vist the Great Wall. First, we went to the jade factory and I saw a $26,000 jade carving of wild horses. (Yes, I typed that correctly, $26,000!) Then we rode the bus ~50 minutes to teh Great Wall. Very interesting drive, as we saw cornfields and communities where the working class live--many homes with tin roofs with bricks on them. Also saw lots of worn down storefronts and bicyclists on 40-50 mph roads and bikes with trailers/wagons. Our bus driver is very good and has excellent depth perception, but sometimes it makes my stomach sick.

Then, we went to the Great Wall. It was still cloudy and drizzling, but we decided to beat the clear skies crowd that would like descend upon the Wall later in the day. Luckily, the rain stopped when we got there. Climbed the stairs at a relatively brisk pace. It quickly got sweaty as the elevation increased. It was more intense than I anticipated. I was expecting more rolling hills but the peaks were huge!!! And, the steps were quite large--even for someone who is 6'2". Bought a Dove (Mars) candy bar to refuel halfway up the climb because I was low on energy.

Nora, Mike T. and Laura passed us on the way to the top, and Mark, Kathryn and Nicole and I hiked it together. The wall reached a dead end at its highest peak and it was 45 minutes back down (and a lot easier!). We quite literally climbed into the clouds and colud feel the cloud mist. There was also a fork in the road, slightly below the tallest point, which we did not take going down the mountain. The whole thing was exhausting and a little bit magical.

We were more than ready for lunch, which was at the Friendship House. Lots of interesting products and enamelware. Lunch was more of the same but with some alcohol that tasted like aviation fuel. Lots of vendors and we saw people making the enamel vases. Unique stuff that I would never have in my home...it's a certain style I guess. Went to the Ming Tombs and visited some exhibition halls and one of the 13 tombs. Very cavernous, but solid concrete and quite bare-boned. Much of it was destoryed during the Cultural Revolution. There were not really any fancy artifacts to speak of besides the tombs.

Next, we went to a tea house, where we sampled 5 different kinds of tea (black, green, oolong, jasmine and puerh). There was a Martha Steward-like hostess of tea who did all the preparations. Turned out to be a happy Tupperware party or like a QVC show. The tea was free apparently, but there was a hard sell for buying tea at the end of the demonstration. Don't want? But wait, there's Pee Boy, free with purchase! A couple people in our group bought something because they wanted the free "Pee Boy," a clay figurine that peed when hot enough water was poured over it. Supposedly, this is actually used to test the water temperature for the tea. I'm thinking it's more of a tourist gimmick. But, I could be wrong.

For dinner, it was a 50 minute drive back and we had Peking duck. The whole thing actually came out and they carved it in front of us. We had pre-ordered this duck in May. They force feed the duck for two weeks before killing it, and then air is puffed into the duck between the muscle and skin and it's soaked in salts or some seasonings. Then, it is fried. I was not a big fan of the layer of skin and fat (I don't eat at KFC either.) I tried some of the duck with a piece of crispy skin, sans the ridge of fat. Checked my email for the first time and it cost 20 yuan for 20 minutes (<$3). What a great day!