Leaving for Guangzhou

 Yesterday was our last day in Beijing, and we spent the day touring with most of the other families in our travel group.  We toured Tienanmen's Square, The Forbidden City, and The Great Wall, and on our way back to the hotel, they drove us past the Olympic Park, so we got some photos of The Water Cube and The Bird's Nest.  We are visiting China during the peak season when all of the children are on their school break, so everything was pretty crowded.  Tienanmen's Square was huge, but it was packed with people.  Chairman Mao's body is enshrined in a building within the square, and people will stand in line all day just to walk by his body.  While we were there, I was approached by a Chinese family who wanted to take my picture.  Before I knew it, his wife handed me their baby son for the photo, and the poor little guy started to just scream.  I was trying to calm him, but it just wasn't working.  I'm really hoping it isn't what will happen when they hand Hana to us, but I have a feeling she is going to find us just as strange as he did. 

The Forbidden City was huge, and when we got into the first courtyard, I could not believe the size of courtyard and the buildings, nor the beauty of the craftsmanship.  When Veronica said that is just the outer court and there many more inner courts to follow, I was amazed by the the enormity of the place.  I was even more amazed that it only took 14 years to build!  But I suppose if you have 1 million workers, 15,000 craftsman, and no building permits and inspectors, it is doable.

After leaving there, we headed toward the Great Wall.  We had lunch at this place called Yu Long Friendship Store, which was also a workshop where they created these beautiful vases, bowls, and pictures out of copper.  We were able to buy a few items for our house and a Panda picture for Hana's room.  After that, we went to The Great Wall, and it was indeed great.  We have so often seen it in photos, but they just do not capture the enormity of the thing.  We did climb the wall, and we reached as far as the third tower of four.  It was pretty steep, and the steps were uneven.  In some places, there was almost no elevation change, and the next step was more like three steps, showing that they were definitely hand crafted.  You could also see where the years of use have worn down the stairs as there were dips in the stone.  It was amazing, and the view from up high was incredible.  It was so steep, that our ears were popping from the elevation changes.  It was definitely worth the climb, and there was no need for the gym afterwards.

Today we are headed to Guangzhou, and tomorrow is the day we have all been waiting so long for.  So I have to go and get packed and ready to leave.  Brian will upload our pictures later tonight once we get to the White Swan.