We are not keeping up with family news because the government has banned Facebook in China. Evelyn calls this the Great Firewall. Today is our trip to the Real Great Wall. We discussed our departure to Korea by ferry with David and he arranged a hire car to take us on Thursday morning from our hotel direct to the ferry at a cost of $230. We already have a train ticket but we are very unsure about getting to and from the train, so we feel this is our safest option to ensure we are at the ferry well before 11am departure. Ken decided to stay in the hotel today as he was fighting the cold that each of us had caught and he had already been to the Wall during the Olympics. Hopefully he will be recovered by the time he gets home on the 21st and meets his new granddaughter Abby. On the way we saw an example of how Chinese tradesmen carry lengths of steel pipe to their job.
We also saw a minor Adventure Park.
The Wall was 6,500km long and some people do walk the whole distance. Not for us. The Mongolians got over the wall by bribing a Chinese General. Sounds like Lundy in Derry who is burned every year on the 12th August for similar treachery, opening the gate in return for two baps (fortunately his apprentices closed it again in time to save the city of Derry). David left the three of us to climb up to the top of the reconstructed section and as it was Sunday there were big crowds.
We climbed up to the little building where the wall ran out. Good views on the way.
A road ran along this valley to a village.
The railway took a short cut under this hill.
We drove back to the Jade Factory where the sculptures (and the prices) were mindboggling. We watched it being cut and polished under the supervision of another well-trained young lady
but neither she nor David could convince us to buy, as everything was too heavy or expensive. The skills were traditionally handed down from father to son, but under the one child policy they now allow daughters to take up the craft. They polish the stone at least 300 times to achieve the proper sheen. We had lunch provided in the Jade Factory and returned to the hotel via the "Bird's Nest"
and the Swimming Centre form the 2008 Olympics. Near our hotel a marquee was set up to entice couples to plan their weddings with the experts.
Definitely the season for weddings in Asia.
We left some of our luggage at the hotel and checked out at 6pm to catch the overnight sleeper train to Xian. David took us to the Beijing South station which was terribly complex and we would have struggled to find our own way onto the train. The First Class Lounge was a joke with far more people waiting than there were chairs.
This was the worst station we had been in anywhere. Once we got on board the four of us were sharing a compartment again but only for 12 hours and there was more luggage space and the staff on board were quite helpful.
The Wall was 6,500km long and some people do walk the whole distance. Not for us. The Mongolians got over the wall by bribing a Chinese General. Sounds like Lundy in Derry who is burned every year on the 12th August for similar treachery, opening the gate in return for two baps (fortunately his apprentices closed it again in time to save the city of Derry). David left the three of us to climb up to the top of the reconstructed section and as it was Sunday there were big crowds.
We drove back to the Jade Factory where the sculptures (and the prices) were mindboggling. We watched it being cut and polished under the supervision of another well-trained young lady
but neither she nor David could convince us to buy, as everything was too heavy or expensive. The skills were traditionally handed down from father to son, but under the one child policy they now allow daughters to take up the craft. They polish the stone at least 300 times to achieve the proper sheen. We had lunch provided in the Jade Factory and returned to the hotel via the "Bird's Nest"
and the Swimming Centre form the 2008 Olympics. Near our hotel a marquee was set up to entice couples to plan their weddings with the experts.
We left some of our luggage at the hotel and checked out at 6pm to catch the overnight sleeper train to Xian. David took us to the Beijing South station which was terribly complex and we would have struggled to find our own way onto the train. The First Class Lounge was a joke with far more people waiting than there were chairs.
This was the worst station we had been in anywhere. Once we got on board the four of us were sharing a compartment again but only for 12 hours and there was more luggage space and the staff on board were quite helpful.
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