Calm borders

Friday, August 19, 2011

Beijing

We had a full day today and the jet lag is hitting me tonight but I wanted to post a quick update and pictures.  We started our day at a Jade Factory and were able to watch the work of very patient and meticolous workers form a beautiful jade piece from a raw square stone.  The showroom was filled with beautiful pieces and we were able to find a heirloom piece of jade that we will give to Kelcy on a significant event in her life when she is older.  Conner found a jade eagle that caught his eye:

  
We then went to the Great Wall and it is a site to see.  It was actually a nice clear day so we could see the beautiful sites surrounding the wall.  Our guide told us that August was a busy tourist month for Chinese families as they vacation before school starts up so there were a lot of people climbing the stairs and the stairs got narrower and narrower as you went up.  I walked up a little ways and Tommy and Conner climbed even further - in fact Conner almost reached the top of that section and really enjoyed the scenary...but he and Tommy had a long way back down and Conner really felt the intense workout he had a couple of hours later....he was so tired he fell asleep at 6pm and I don't think he will be waking up before 6:00am.




We then enjoyed a nice chinese buffet for lunch at a large touristy place where they also have a Cloisonne factory which is the enamel ware vases that you see in many chinese restaurants in the states.  After lunch we were able to drive around the Olympic park area and see the Bird Nest building famous for the Olympic pre and post ceremonies and also the Water Cube building where Michael Phillips won all his gold medals.  We made one last stop at a Tea House where we learned about the proper way to have tea parties in China and did some tea tasting.  We made it back to the hotel and pretty much fell out of the tour van we were all so tired.  One of the families we are traveling with has their little 4 year old daughter with them and she has been such a trooper today too so it was a fun day of touring.  Our guide was kind enough to order Dominoe's pizza for us so we enjoyed a little taste of home today. 

I will leave you now with a wish for you and the symbol of good fortune, wisdom, and longetivity:




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