Climbing the Great Wall and Visiting the Ming Tombs

Our time at the Great Wall and Ming Tombs

To beat the extreme Beijing traffic on our way to the Great Wall, we left the hotel on Monday, June 21, 2010, at 7:45 am.

	Our first stop, though, was at a "Jade Factory." We stayed at this glorified jewelry store for a long time, and I was worried we would miss out on time to walk the Great Wall.
I should not have been worried! Next, we traveled to the Juyongguan ("Juyong Pass") section of the Great Wall.

The sight was amazing! It was very hot and very sunny, but we came prepared with hats, sun tan lotion, and water. The left-hand picture was my first view of the Great Wall. The right-hand picture is of EHG pointing to the sign that directed us to the Great Wall walk.

We decided to take the wall less traveled and walk on "The Great Wall over Eastern Mountains"	That's where we're headed!

After making it up the very steep initial stairs, we stopped for a breather. In my journal, I wrote, "It's so amazing!"	I always knew I'd love the Great Wall. It's non-smoking!
	Another fun sign along the Great Wall.
We imagined walking the Great Wall would be a highlight of our trip to China, and it was.
	We even got to climb up some of the towers!

We got to stay at the Great Wall for 2 hours and 15 minutes.

We drove to a "Cloisonne Factory" to eat lunch and wander their gift shop. (The gift shop was very Niagara Falls Clifton Hill-like.) The food was yummy again, including a dish of beef, onions, and peppers that tasted just like fajitas.

Next, we were off to visit the Ming Tombs.


Here I am in front of a hall at the Ming Tombs.	We also climbed up the Soul Tower for another view.
	Squat toilets were clean at the Ming Tombs! (Tip: Do not use with your camera in your pocket, or your camera may fall into the toilet!

Maybe the most American-friendly tourist site of all in China is the Sacred Way, a path of large animal and human statues near the Ming Tombs. (You aren't surprised it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are you?)

First of all, it's beautifully landscaped.	Then there are fun statues along the way.

Here I am with a crouching horse.	Here is EHG with an elephant!

One more fun statue: a camel!	This building signaled the end of the Sacred Way!
We boarded our bus and headed off to see the 2008 Olympic green.

I am such a huge Olympics fan! It was so cool to see the Olympic rings on the road as we went by.	The first site on the Olympic Green we saw after going through security was the Water Cube. (That's the Birds Nest in the backhround, too!)

It was surreal to stand outside the Birds Nest Stadium! Now I've been to the Olympic stadia in Beijing and We. (I've also been near the stadia in Helsinki and Atlanta.)

The stadium lights were even little Birds Nests!	We also went by the National Gymnasium.

Here's a picture of our tour group (with Snow with his blue flag) at the Olympic Green.	Seeing the International Broadcasting Center was so evocative!
	One last picture of me with the Birds Nest Stadium before leaving!

Our last stop on our second day in Beijing was to the Roast Duck Restaurant for a Peking/Beijing Duck dinner.

We got to see the chef cut the meat off the duck!	There were other fixings to add to the duck.
I guess you're supposed to eat the duck wrapped in a think pancake. Turns out I am not much of a fan of duck. (I'll stick with fajitas.)

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