The Bus and the Great Wall

I started my day by sitting in the hotel's little courtyard lounge, sipping tea, the girls in high spirits, gazing out onto the little courtyard...and crying because I was so damn happy!

Mae discovered a passion for kiwi juice, and Zoe ate an entire steamed bun, declaring it was the best thing she had ever eaten, and then we went for what we thought would be an hour walk before Joan and a driver came to get us to take us to the Great Wall....As we got to the end of the Hutong, here came Joan in a BUS. Her friend who drives for their work, volunteered his bus and we had an 18 seater all to ourselves. Now we are spoiled, but it was a great way to travel out to the Great Wall. We went to the Badaling section; had never been to this part before. It is the closest to Beijing and the most 'overbuilt' . But there are no tram cars here, and the walk, once you got on the wall, was STRAIGHT UP. REALLY STEEP. Zoe ran up, with Mae and Joan not far behind, but Ian and I struggled. Well worth it. It was shirtsleeve weather, moderately clear with good views.

Stopped for lunch at a toursity kind of place, where you walk through miles of jade shops to get to the food. Our only purchase was a pack of cantalope gum, introduced to us by Joan two years ago and a favorite of the girls. We ration it back at home. With our $2 purchase, we proceeded to a nice meal, then back onto the bus. We took a swing past the Olympic venues...the Bird's Nest is incredible! A bit dusy...there were men working on the outside of it, and they looked like little ants from the distance; the water cube for the diving events was next to that, and they are both SO IMPRESSIVE. It was a thrill to see them. Lots of locals lined up on the edge of the expressway, taking photos of it too, just like me hanging out of the bus! A lot of pride in these venues, understandably.

We purchased a mobile phone, thinking we might use it again on other trips. Will try texting a few of you to see if we can really get it to work.

Ian and I made the mistake of taking a nap this afternoon. The girls watched Chinese version of Donald Duck. By the time we were ready for dinner, they were falling asleep. We went to a dumpling restaurant around the corner where the two girls promptly fell asleep, leaving Ian and I to manuver through dinner with a girl on our lap, LOTS of curious looks, and one hand to consume plates of dumplings and fried corn! Very nice meal for about $11. We will be back, I am sure.

A few thoughts about Beijing. Since I was last here in 2002 (and Ian in 1997), the skyline has shot up. There is an even greater feeling of prosperity; lots of people walking dogs, many fewer bicycles, streets VERY clean, more English spoken, a slightly hipper and trendier Beijing than I remember. We are looking forward to visiting a few of the areas we spent time in on previous trips. But the change is there!

A great day one...busy but not too busy. As long as the girls get to chew gum, they seem happy. We may not get a parenting award (I whispered to Mae as we were trying to have a family photo on the Great Wall and she was NOT going to cooperate "Mae, if you turn around and smile for a nice picture you can have a little coke when we get to the bottom'....) but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. So far, it is working.