Friday, Feb 8, 2008

Today was the exciting day because we were headed to the Great Wall of China at the Badaling pass. When we were discussing the trip and I told M that she would be going to the Great Wall, she was so excited. Well today she was going to see it in person for the first time. On our way to the Great Wall we made a couple of other stops to some more local sites, the Cloisonne and a Jade Factory. Our first stop was the Cloisonne factory. I was a little disappointed because we didn't go to the same factory that I've been to on my previous 2 trips to Beijing. This one just wasn't the same. They just had some tables set up inside the building that just demonstrated the process so you can see how the Cloisonne was made. Since we were also the only group in the building, M was able to try her hand at putting the enamel onto a vase. We ended up buying some tiny panda ornaments for all M's classmates at School and some bracelets for her teammates at Gymnastics. For some reason, I thought the prices were a little higher than on my previous trips but that could be because the dollar isn't as valuable anymore (7.1 yuan to 1.00). Our next stop was the Jade Factory where we had a little lunch. This wasn't my favorite lunch on the trip but at least it filled my stomach. We had a little tour on how they carved all the jade pieces. We were also given some ideas on how to determine if a piece is genuine jade or a fake. I only picked up a couple of little items for the girls. I had purchases both girls a nice jade piece on my previous trips so I didn't buy a lot this time.

We were finally headed towards the Great Wall after lunch. We went to the same location that I've visited on both my trips, Badaling. M was very impressed with the Great Wall and was very excited to be able to walk it. It was very windy and cold on this day but we braved the weather and started to walk. M was having some problems with her coughing (she had been coughing all week due to her illness that she had right before she left home) due to the cold winds and her over exerting her body. We only walked as far as I've walked in the past, the tower at the top of the hill pictured in the top right photo. I'm proud that M made it that far because she was coughing so hard that she told me she almost threw up one time.

Now to one of the highlights of our trip, the Ice Lantern Festival in Lonqingxia. We headed north of the Great wall to a resort area called Lonqingxia. The festival was at the base of a dammed up gorge. It was totally amazing what they had carved out of ice and snow. They made lots of different buildings inside the enclosed area out of ice. The ice was also lit up which made it all the more beautiful. There were ice sculptures everywhere. If it only wasn't so cold inside, I would have liked to stay a lot longer. M. was getting very cold and after her little mishap at the squatty potty, she didn't want to walk around anymore. It was getting close to about 6:00pm and we still haven't eaten our dinner yet so we left the area to go to the restaurant. Dinner, that was another experience. The only parking close to the festival was in front of different restaurants and if you wanted to park there, you had to eat at that particular restaurant. Let's just say, I'm glad I didn't get ill. The restaurant wasn't up to our clean standards and I was worried about eating anything. I was the polite tourist and tried some things but the whole time I was hoping it wasn't going to make me sick. At least we had our guide and driver to order foods that were probably more eatable than others. We both got so chilled from this trip that it was tough for me to get warmed up after we got back to the hotel. I was up at around midnight taking the hottest shower I could stand just so that I could feel warm again and get some sleep.