The Great Wall (is STEEP!)

Another thrilling and exhausting day in Beijing. The drive out to the Great Wall took about an hour and it was interesting to see so much more of Beijing along the way. Once again, the driving here is like nothing any of us have ever seen and it has now become quite entertaining, although there are times I have to close my eyes when I am certain we are going to be running down a few pedestrians or cyclists. No disappointments at the Great Wall -- it was just as amazing as we expected it to be. The section we climbed was incredibly steep and we all had quite the workout. Our guide, Helen, brings a family here once a week and she told us she has lost quite a bit of weight since she started doing so last year. We were really impressed with Henry's ability to climb as far as he did!

On the way back from the Wall we stopped at a government-owned Friendship store and Cloisonne factory. It was fascinating to see the cloisonne being made. We definitely have a different appreciation for this beautiful enameled pottery. Of course, afterwards we were able to purchase some (no negotiating, though -- government owned shop)! We bought Mae her first gifts from China, a tiny cloisonne bracelet and pill box. We had a great lunch that Helen ordered for us. About twelve different dishes, everything from Kung Pow chicken to watermelon. Valerie and Rich enjoyed the spicy soup and Melissa loved the bean eggrolls and dumplings. Henry has been the first one at the table willing to try anything. This morning he chose the lox for breakfast and ate an entire fillet! He is getting pretty darn good with the chopsticks! Henry took a dip with his dad in the nice hotel pool after we visited the sobering Tian An Men Square. This place is really impressive in its sheer vastness (and also filled with scores of people) and had us reflecting on the things that have taken place here over the decades, with a gigantic portait of Chairman Mao peering down on us from above.

This morning while Henry still slept, Valerie, Rich and I discussed what we have seen so far. The sheer number of people here is mind boggling. Every square inch of space is just filled with people, all busy doing something or going somewhere. We decided the best analogy is this: imagine you are in New York City and the Macy's Day parade has just finished. Tons of people scrambling in all directions, all the time, everywhere. And they are so kind and warm-hearted, when it seems as though they should be short-tempered and rude just due to their living conditions. It has made us feel so spoiled and lazy sometimes, and incredibly lucky to have been born in America.

We are having a terrible time with updating the meetmae website. Posting photos has taken hours each evening and we'll just finish writing a blog, attach pictures and all, and then go to post it, and it will just disappear. Gone. We'll keep trying, though. We are hoping for better luck tomorrow when we get to Guangzhou and the White Swan! Two more nights to Mae!

We're trying something new this time, by just attempting to post a couple pictures from the day, and by including a link to a good online photo organizing website, Flickr, that you can hopefully click on and see all our pictures. Cross your fingers. If it doesn't work, we'll try something else tomorrow! http://www.flickr.com/photos/caira/sets/

Love to all,
melissa and rich