The Great Wall and the Summer Palace

Friday, May 14th, 2010

From the time Daniel knew that he was going to be a big brother we had told him that his brother lived in China.  Almost daily we said that were going to fly to China and get his brother.  When we came off of our plane in Beijing Daniel asked "where is my brother".  Of course we had tried to explain that it will  be a few more days but you know to a little kid that is hard to understand.  Yesterday we traveled with our guide to see the "Great Wall".  While we were touring the wall Daniel said "I want to see my brother".  Oops!  I guess we should have been a little more careful when telling him where his brother lived.  Oh well, that day is almost here!

Back to the Wall....we had a wonderful time.  I have dreamed about seeing this place for a long time and it did not disappoint!  The part of the Wall that we visited was so steep.  The picture in my mind and the one that I thought I saw in pictures was not that steep.  Our guide explained to us the number of years that it took to construct it and the number of people they needed for the labor.  Looking at it today I tried to imagine the people all of those years ago carefully constructing this wall and what the conditions must have been like for them.  All I can say is that I am pleased that I didn't have to help.

We climbed the first part and it was pretty easy.  Daniel had fun looking out of the gun turret and performing his super hero poses for everyone.  We stopped to listen to our guide when a man (looked like he might be middle eastern) walked over to Daniel, put his arms around him and had his guide take their picture.  I froze, I didn't know what to do.  Daniel looked perplexed  while our guide encouraged him to smile for the camera.  He never did smile and the man gave up.  He turned to thank us and his travel companion wanted a picture too but kept moving.  I'm sure he saw the look on my face and decided against it.  After that, Daniel wanted me to hold him, I was happy to do so.  We continued with our climb.  Some of the stairs were short and some were tall and carrying Daniel was pretty scary especially coming down.  We stopped on one level and I looked up at the next set of stairs and decided that was enough.  I would have continued if
Daniel was not with us.  Hopefully we can return when he is older and we can go even higher!

After the wall we stopped for lunch at a factory/shop/restaurant.  The guide walked us through the factory that produces Cloisonne.  It is a pain staking process that I would not have a steady hand or patience for.  It is a seven step process starting with Copper and ending with firing in a kiln & polishing with coal.  I have seen the finished product before but didn't know what is was called or how difficult it was to make it.

In the afternoon we drove to the Summer Palace.  Our guide, Cindy, is like a walking history book.  She is an amazing story teller and knows her history well.  She told us the story of the Imperial families that once inhabited this beautiful place. The buildings are so beautiful with intricate details.  The Palace is a series of buildings, courtyards and gardens.  It is set on a lake and we rode a dragon boat to visit some more buildings.  Everywhere we went there were lots of people.  Normally, I would hate all of the crowds but, it doesn't bother me that much in China.  I think it's because everyone keeps moving, you don't have to wait for someone to move you walk in front of them or push past them.  It's kind of fun not having to be courteous (not that I was being rude but I think you know what I mean).

For dinner we walked to a local mall.  We had visited the same place the night before for dinner.  On our way back to the hotel the first night, a woman with a baby walked up to Brian saying "please" over and over.  He gave her money and another woman with an older child came up saying the same thing.  We told our guide about it the next day and she said not to give them any money.  She told us that they rent children to help them beg.  On our way back to the hotel the second night the same woman approached us again but instead of a little boy, she was holding a baby.  That is so sad, I just wanted to take that baby from her.

Saturday we are heading to the Forbidden City that is no longer forbidden.  Our hotel is very close so we are going to walk, I'm glad we brought our stroller!