One thing about these tours, they throw in these shopping stops along the way. We figure the tour company and the tour guide get a kickback from all of the sales. So on the way to the Great Wall we stopped at a Jade Factory. On the way to the Great Wall, the tour guide gave some information on the building of the wall. 1 million people were forced to work on the wall (about 1/5 of the population); many died there and were buried there as well. Goats and donkeys were used to transport the materials to this remote location.
Great Wall – Badaling. We took a cable car from the parking lot to the Wall. Amazing, awesome. There is no way that words and pictures can do justice. When you walk out and see the wall, it is so very impressive. Then you turn around and see more. The wall continued for as far as the eye could see in the other direction.
The wall is in such a remote location that you wonder how it was even possible to build this wall.. The hardest part of the day was the heat. We estimated about 100°F on the wall. Very hot! After the wall we headed to lunch. Lunch is good, but the restaurant was located in the back of a store!!! Guess what? We had to listen to a five minute demonstration before we could eat lunch. These five minute demonstrations are their sales pitches. They get upset if you do not listen. We were hungry, and we did not want to hear what they had to say.
The tour guide shares different tidbits of the Chinese culture with us. One question posed was “Are there any lesbians in China.” We saw girls walking together holding hands. The response was that holding hands in public is a sign of the relationship. Really good girl friends will walk down the street hand in hand, but they are not lesbians. Then he went on to say that “Only rich people can afford to be lesbians”.
Our afternoon activity was a rickshaw ride in a local residential area. They did not pull us on foot, but with a bicycle. We visited a Hutong. A Hutong is four family houses sharing the same courtyard. The best house is for the oldest people living in the houses. The son gets the next best house and the daughter gets the third best. The fourth quadrant was for the servants. The houses were very small. .
Tomorrow is our last morning in Beijing. We then head to Xian by air. Xian is the formal capital of China and has a 5000 year history.
Beijing is: Lots of traffic, Many many tour busses, Beautiful, Clean – no litter or graffiti, Diverse architecture, Hot, Bicycles galore, pedestrians & bicyclists could be run over at any time, Lots of high rise housing,
Great Wall – Badaling. We took a cable car from the parking lot to the Wall. Amazing, awesome. There is no way that words and pictures can do justice. When you walk out and see the wall, it is so very impressive. Then you turn around and see more. The wall continued for as far as the eye could see in the other direction.
The wall is in such a remote location that you wonder how it was even possible to build this wall.. The hardest part of the day was the heat. We estimated about 100°F on the wall. Very hot! After the wall we headed to lunch. Lunch is good, but the restaurant was located in the back of a store!!! Guess what? We had to listen to a five minute demonstration before we could eat lunch. These five minute demonstrations are their sales pitches. They get upset if you do not listen. We were hungry, and we did not want to hear what they had to say.
The tour guide shares different tidbits of the Chinese culture with us. One question posed was “Are there any lesbians in China.” We saw girls walking together holding hands. The response was that holding hands in public is a sign of the relationship. Really good girl friends will walk down the street hand in hand, but they are not lesbians. Then he went on to say that “Only rich people can afford to be lesbians”.
Our afternoon activity was a rickshaw ride in a local residential area. They did not pull us on foot, but with a bicycle. We visited a Hutong. A Hutong is four family houses sharing the same courtyard. The best house is for the oldest people living in the houses. The son gets the next best house and the daughter gets the third best. The fourth quadrant was for the servants. The houses were very small. .
Tomorrow is our last morning in Beijing. We then head to Xian by air. Xian is the formal capital of China and has a 5000 year history.
Beijing is: Lots of traffic, Many many tour busses, Beautiful, Clean – no litter or graffiti, Diverse architecture, Hot, Bicycles galore, pedestrians & bicyclists could be run over at any time, Lots of high rise housing,
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