April 3/05 ~ The Great Wall

After the buffet breakfast, we boarded our tour bus (thankfully a much larger one). Our first stop was a freshwater pearl factory. They did a demonstration about how the pearls are cultivated and then we were whisked off to the showroom for shopping. Many in our group were buying gifts for their daughters’ future birthdays. Our next stop was the Great Wall. As we were going down the road and the mountains were getting closer, we began to see the wall come in to sight. What a spectacular view that was! It is an amazing sight to see. We were allowed to spend time to look around and even climb the wall. Jamie and I could only go so far because I was carrying Sophie in her Snugli and the steps are very steep in places, not to mention the fact that she was getting heavier with each step I took. We took many pictures and Jamie, being the ham that he is, drew a crowd by dressing in a traditional Chinese robe with a funny hat and had his picture taken. We then had our family picture taken and put on a certificate that says that we climbed the Great Wall. Our final stop was a jade factory with a demonstration of how jade is mined. And, of course, the tour always ends in the showroom. The jewelry was beautiful but very pricey. We went back to our hotel to spend the evening preparing more paperwork for the Canadian Embassy. Tomorrow we are taking the babies to the Beijing Medical Clinic.
At the Great Wall.
Our family at the Great Wall.
Emperor Jamie.
Making jade pieces.
Huge jade furniture.