Today's main destination was the Great Wall at Badaling, but on the way we stopped at a huge jade factory to see how raw jade is turned into the jewelery and sculptures we are all familiar with (and for another opportunity to shop in a huge store "stalked" by many eager salespeople).
We had been to the Badaling section of the Great Wall on our first visit to China seven years ago (hey, if it was good enough for Richard Nixon, it was good enough for us). But on that previous visit, we had gone to the southern arm and because it was very steep (and because it was 100 degrees F that day) we had really not been able to see a very large part of the wall.
This time was different. We went to the northern section of the Badaling Wall. We took a cable car to the top of that section and then we saw a large beautiful section of the Wall as we walked down.
The Wall is still very steep in parts of this section, and several areas have difficult to navigate steps of frustratingly varying heights. But it was definitely worth the aching legs we had at the end to have made the trip.
The day had started hazy, but as these pictures show the sun came out for us while we were on the wall. Luckily it was only about 85 degrees today.
Tomorrow, we're supposed to visit the Temple of Heaven and hopefully get to see some of the Olympic sites (that may be difficult because the Paralympics have just started and our access may be limited). And then, on Monday, we'll be off to Tianjin and our new daughter.
1 comment:
Breathtaking! We've got to go to the cable car section one of these trips!
Jill
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