Beijing Day Two

Day 2
1/1/06

Today we all got a little more organized and met for breakfast. There seemed to be an early group that met before 8 AM – the ones who couldn’t make it any longer without coffee and a group that met at 8:30. The breakfast hasn’t gotten any better; I think a lot of people have gotten used to eating toast for breakfast. At 10 AM we all took the bus to the church service for the Christians visiting Beijing. The service was nice with a band and a lot of singing – some in Chinese and some in English. The entire service lasted about one and a half hours. It’s cool to see a regular group of people meeting in an organized Christian church here. Each week there are a lot of guests like us, but when the pastor had the visitors stand up, there were still quite a few people who were regulars.

After church we got on the bus to go to the great wall and to lunch. The wall is about an hour outside the city and on the way we stopped at a cloissenair factory that also had a restaurant. Cloissenair is a Chinese pottery that is made out of copper with a ceramic outside that has very colorful designs. The factories are much like the rides in Disney World, you see a little demonstration of how the pottery is made and then you are dumped into the gift shop. The design on the pottery and the work that goes into them is incredible. Lunch was the standard fare we are getting used to – a big round table with multiple dishes on the lazy susan in the middle. We had fish this time and sure enough the head and tail were still on. After lunch we got back on the bus and headed to the wall.

As we were driving out of the city you realize just how big the city is. The wall isn’t that far from the outside of the city, it just takes so long to get out. Rosa, one of our guides, said the city is 1600 square kilometers. Even before we exited the city you could start to see the mountains in the distance, it was very pretty. We you first get a glimpse of the wall as you are driving; you are just awestruck that you are finally seeing it. I think all of us found it incredible to be at the Great Wall of China in person and the wall didn’t disappoint us. The section of the wall that we were at is called Badaling. Once on the wall we had two directions we could climb, one was very steep and one was a lot easier. Our guides made it clear that the men should climb the steep section (with a hint that if we didn’t our manliness would be questioned!) and the women should climb the other section. Both directions took you higher into the hills. Brandon, Kevin, Dennis and Carrie, Woody and Rachael and I all started up the steep section. Again I can’t describe how amazed we were that they built this wall and how spectacular it was that we were there. Parts of the climb had stairs, although they were very steep stairs and Carrie with her short legs found them more difficult than the angled sections. Some the inclines we climbed were unbelievable, you felt like you were walking up a wall (no pun intended). We had set a goal for the highest tower and it took us about twenty minutes to get there. I was ready to drop from the cold air and my rubber legs. Woody decided that wasn’t far enough so he took off with Brandon, Kevin and Dennis and walked to where the restoration ended. I was glad Brandon got to go to the end and see the original part. What an incredible experience for a 14 year old. We climbed back down and had a cup of hot chocolate before getting back on the bus and heading back into the city.

On the way back we stopped at a jade factory and saw how they cut, shaped and polished it before being let out into the jade store. I didn’t buy the bracelet there but we learned how to tell the difference between jade and jadeite and marble and glass, which are the common fakes. I’ll use this knowledge in Guangzhou where the prices are better.

Finally we ended with our Beijing Duck dinner, which was not terribly exciting. Another lazy susan with a bunch of mystery food on it. The duck is supposed to be eaten in a thin shell that looks like a tortilla but is tasteless, I imagine it is made out of rice. You roll the duck in the “tortilla” and dip it in a brown sauce that has a peanut flavor to it. Every meal seems to have something like kung po chicken, sweet and sour pork, and some sort of beef dish. Sometimes we question if they are really chicken, pork or beef, but it’s probably best not to dwell on it too much. So far, most of the group has had no problems with getting sick off the food. One couple hasn’t felt well, but I think they came to China that way. After dinner we went back to the hotel and I was exhausted. We did a quick grocery run for some more water and I tried to sit in the bar for a drink with some of the guys, but I kept nodding off. I was in bed asleep when Lori made her nightly call. Tomorrow is the Summer Palace, Tian’ammen Square, possibly a silk factory and an acrobat show at night.

Steven