.: The Great Wall

The highlight of our day today was our tour of the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. Our guide, John Yellowcar, picked us up at our hotel at 7:00 am.

He was a great driver and lots of fun! It was about a 90 minute drive to get to the Great Wall. We left the big city of Beijing and traded the heavy traffic and smog for the beauty of the countryside. We went through several small villages and loved seeing all of the people, young and old, riding scooters and bicycles through the small towns. The roadsigns were often a bit amusing....

We arrived at the Great Wall about 8:30 am. John helped us buy our tickets and we were on our way. This section of the Great Wall was constructed during the Northern Dynasties period (386-581) and was restored by Ming emperors between 1368-1644. It historically provided a northern border to Beijing. It stretches 1.4 miles and has 22 blockhouses and watchtowers.

We rode a chair lift up to the wall. All I can say is that I really did not know I could be THAT scared of heights! It was really, really high and had no straps to hold us in, just a bar that seemed really far away. Josh kept asking the entire way if we would die if we fell out...ummm, yes, and please stop reminding me!

The scenery was amazingly beautiful. Climbing all the stairs was great fun, but exhausting! It ended up being quite a workout!! We climbed up to five watchtowers...the last of which had no real stairs and we had to actually climb over the rocks....that was the last one for me. While we climbed, Anita stayed at the first watchtower and had her photo taken with various groups of Chinese tourists...I think they all wanted to be photographed with the American!

We were able to add our "Lock of Love" to the Great Wall. This is a tradition where couples, family members, or close friends take a padlock and lock it on a fence, pole, or metallic chain alongside the wall at a public place. This symbolizes that their relationship is locked forever. The keys are thrown over the edge of the wall.

Instead of riding the chair lift back down, we took the toboggan slide. This was so much fun! You could control the speed with the brake in the middle. We all loved this!

We met back up with John Yellowcar and he took us to lunch at a local Chinese restaurant. We had fried rice, dumplings, and beef noodles plus four cokes....all for under $10. This included his meal as well. We then drove by the 2008 Olympic Park where we saw the famous Bird's Nest.

Next, he took us to the Summer Palace. Long ago, this is where the emperor would spend his summers since it was cooler there than in the city. It was very crowded, but interesting to see. We all took one and only one bite of our first green pea Popsicle (yes, you read that correctly!) and then we rode the dragon boat back to the entrance.

After resting a bit at the hotel, we met up with the Meineke family from Kentucky and went to Snack Street. This is the one thing that Josh has been waiting for....starfish on sticks! We did NOT eat anything, but it was truly something to see. And I won't even begin to tell you about the smells!