Tour of Beijing Day

Today was a long day but one we wouldn't have wanted to miss. We began the day touring the Forbidden City. The architecture was beautiful and the size of it was impressive. Several Chinese nationals came up to us and asked to have their picture taken with us. Some have never seen a westerner before so we are excited to see us. We then went to a jade factory where we were given a tour of the process to make the jade into ornaments and jewelry. Of course they had a large shop but we didn't buy any because we know that prices are cheaper in Guangzhou. After lunch we went to the Badaling section of the Great Wall of China. The saying goes that if you visit China and do not go to the Great Wall you really haven't visited China and if you don't make it to the hero's level you haven't really visited the Great Wall. We all made it to the hero's and Kourtney and I climbed to two more towers. We ran out of time or we could have gone further. The climb is very steep and the steps are very uneven. By the time we got to the bottom our legs were like rubber. After the Great Wall we took a tour of the Hutong in rickshaws. Hutong means narrow streets or alley's. The Hutong village is where the real Chinese people live. They share common courtyards and families live in the Hutong for generations. A family in the Hutong invited us to tour their home. It is a very simple life and though they have very little they are happy.