Great Wall

It was an exhilarating experience on the Great Wall for Amanda and me.

Great Wall

Barb and Jenny get an awesome view of the Great Wall.

Great Wall

The Great Wall was very busy today - many people from many nations; it
was quite windy. There were babies and people in wheelchairs and
people in their 80's. Everyone was smiling. I was even smiling after I
took a wrong step and fell. I skinned my knee, but did not break my
ankle. Whew! That was a close one!

Great Wall

We visited the Great Wall (one of the seven wonders of the world) a
few hours outside of Beijing in Badaling. The Great Wall was
constructed from 771BC (Warring States Imperial Dynasty) to 1644AD
(Ming Dynasty). This is my favorite place to visit in China. It is
just amazing!

Cloisonné Shoppe

There was a lot to choose from in the Cloisonné shoppe.

Cloisonné Factory

We visited a Cloisonné Factory and found the process very interesting.
They start with a copper item and they apply copper strips with a type
of glue in the desired pattern. Then it is fired at 800 degrees C
(1472 F) for 2 minutes. Then enamel is painted on using eye droppers
as seen in the picture; it is actually mineral stone powder (in dishes
in the picture) with water. It is applied then fired at 800 C for 4
minutes; the enamel will shrink so the enamel is re-applied and fired
about 5 times. It is then polished with peach wood that appeared to be
burnt.

Peking Duck

We ate Peking Duck for our last meal in Beijing (old name - Peking).
The duck carver was finished carving in a few minutes.

The Summer Palace

We visited the Summer Palace today. The Emperor and Empress stayed
here from April through October to stay cooler. The Long Corridor is
featured in the picture; it is 1/2 mile long. Notice that the Long
Corridor is covered the full 1/2 mile and it is contains many
paintings.

Massage in Xian

This picture is from yesterday when we had a 1 hour massage. These
massages concentrated on the limbs and it was a real treat.

Hutong

We visited the Hutong, the oldest neighborhood in Beijing that was
built 800 years ago. We rode around the Hutong in a rickshaw. We
visited one home that had been remodeled from one residence and split
into 4 residences giving each child a home. We met the grandfather who
was 96 years old.

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Tiananmen Square

We visited Tiananmen Square today. It was built to contain one million people for gatherings.  Every 5 years there is a vote for government officials. The current presiident (or chairman) is Pres Hu Jin Tao. This is a busy place when all the delegates show up from March 1-15.

The tower is the Monument to the Peoples Heroes that celebrates the heroes from 1840-1949.

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Forbidden City

This is the entrance to the Forbidden City known as the Imperial
Palace during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.
The actual construction began in 1407. It is separated into the
Official area, the Imperial area and the Garden area.

Drum Tower and Visiting the Hutong

These very steep stairs were ascended to reach the top of the Drum
Tower where one can look over the Hutong and back upon the Forbidden
City.

Qinling Mountain Wildlife Rescuing Center

It was great fun today seeing the giant pandas at the Mountain
Wildlife Rescuing Center. We saw 4 pandas; 3 were black and white and
1 was red. Isn't he adorable!

Qinling Mountain Wildlife Rescuing Center

Seeing the giant pandas was surreal. You could hardly pull us away. In
this picture the giant panda is eating a bamboo snack. He used his
hands just as we use our hands. He tore off the hard part of the
bamboo to get to the more tender part of the bamboo.

Simple Lunch in Xian

I will try to show you a simple lunch we shared today in Xian. We had 'fried green beans'; wow was it loaded with peppers and 'yes' we did leave a few peppers.

We also had 'Kung Pao Chicken'; this was also quite spicy.

We had an 'Eggplant' dish. This is the third eggplant dish we requested since being in Xian. Expect that some of us will be preparing more eggplant at home.  Yes, it is also spicy. Yum!

And for the final dish we had a 'pork slice' dish that was served on 'Very White Buns'; this was my personal favorite. It had a great flavor yet not too hot.

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The Loo

I had been lucky to use Western toilets up until lunchtime today when
the only choice was a Loo. It was not so bad; roll up your pant legs
and just squat as low as you can go - actually resting the top of your
leg on the bottom of your leg and do the usual! The Chinese believe
this is more hygienic in public toilets and I might have to agree.

Shanxi Historical Museum in Xian

We visited the Shanxi Historical Museum  in Xian where we could follow 7,000 years of history.  The picture shows some of the faces on Terra Cotta soldiers from the Qin Dynasty. You can see from these pictures that the soldiers have very individual looks.

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Qinling Mountain Wildlife Rescuing Center

We visited the Qinling Mountain Wildlife Rescuing Center today. The
main attractions were pandas and golden monkeys. Pictured is the
golden monkey.

Xian Terra Cotta Soldiers

Over 1,000 soldiers have been excavated since 1974 when a farmer
discovered the Terra Cotta soldiers when he was digging a well. Since
then 3 different puts have been unearthed but there is plenty of work
still remaining for the archeologists. Emperor Qin 2200 years ago
wanted the Terra Cotta soldiers built to protect him in death. But
after his death the well protected soldiers were partially destroyed
and covered with lots of dirt. This is the 8th Wonder of the World.

Terra Cotta Pit #1

This is the line-up in Pit #1 for the Terra Cotta soldiers.

Terra Cotta Soldier Hospital

This is the hospital area for the Terra Cotta soldiers meaning they
are repaired in this area.

Huaqing Palace Heritage site Hot Springs

We enjoyed a nice soak in the hot springs water today at the Huaqing Palace Heritage site Hot Springs. It felt great after a day of walking at the site of the Terra Cotta Soldiers.

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Tang Palace Dinner Show

We took a bus to arrive at the Tang Palace Dinner Show. We took a taxi
home, but it took us about 15 minutes to get the taxi.

Guard Tower on the Wall in Xian

This is a better look at a Guard Tower On the Xian Wall. Many people
bike the wall and I kind if wish we had made the trip, but we were all
very tired from waking at 4am to catch our plane from NanJing to Xian.