Heading to China in two weeks

[Jazz]

beautiful pictures Jazz, Dan is such a beautiful young lady

Thanks Ms. Exced...

you want her?

[Jazz]

After the Forbidden City tour which was supposed to take 1 1/2 hour but took us 3 hours \o/ we were starving and fortuitously next on the agenda was lunch...

Now when they sent us the itinerary it said

2. Lunch at a Famous Restaurant

so we're thinking wow - wonder what it's famous for... well now we know...

[Jazz]

It was really pleasant inside - kinda had a hanging gardens kind of feel and were able to feel like we were sitting outside but really we were inside (out of the cold)
None of the waiters spoke english so our guide had to take all our orders and then go to eat her lunch which would prove a little problematic in the days to come but didn't ruin the experience
.
The food on the first day was good - authentic chinese food is definitely very different to the stuff we get used to back on our side of the world... (I still think Jamaican chinese food is the BEST! - maybe we just have fresher better ingredients?)

[Jazz]

[Jazz]

The kids were not happy until we bought them these Panda hats




Then off to see the Temple of Heaven which when literally translated means "The Altar of Heaven"
It is a complex of religious buildings situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. The Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties visited here for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvests.




THe Hall Of Prayer for Good Harvests - this building is constructed entirely of wood without the use of a single nail - a true architectural marvel!

[Jazz]

[Jazz]

This exhibition shows how the Hall of prayer for Good Harvest was constructed

[Jazz]

There was a concert on the way back out







And there is always one half mad sumaddy doing their own dance like no one is watching

[Jazz]

That was the end of touring on Day 1... and we were TIRED!
but the day was not done... the men retired to the room and the joy of a remote and TV and the ladies headed out to a nearby mall to pick up warmer jackets for the kids and me... we were definitely underdressed the first day and froze our tuckus off!

We stopped at a Dairy Queen and had ice cream - I took no pics...
got lost in the mall, frustrated - but finally found something acceptable that didn't cost an arm and a leg - staggered back to the room at about 9:30 - BUSTED!
I ordered room service and called it a day - apparently a decision had been made to begin at 7:30 AM the next day and I was not thrilled with that - I don't like waking up early on vacation but oh well.

Day 2 was supposed to be a Jade Factory, The Great Wall of China, Lunch, The Sacred Way and The Ming Tombs - with a drive by the Birds Nest. - jam packed... \o/

[Jazz]

Jade Factory









This shows the progression of a block of jade to the finished product

[Jazz]

MOst of these pieces were really expensive $$$$$



The child is a ham!

[Jazz]

The Great Wall of China - I had anticipated seeing this most of all...

So I had read that there was a section of the wall where you could get a lift up and take a toboggan ride back down and I wanted to have that option... but our guide talked us out of it and I was a little disappointed about that...
So some in our party did not make it very far up the section of the wall we went to...

We went to the Juyongguan section of the wall because our guide said it would be less crowded than the Badaling section which is very popular. Juyongguan (pass) is in the 18-kilometer (11 mi)-long Guangou Valley. The pass is one of the three greatest mountain passes of theGreat Wall of China. It was a very important strategic place connecting the inner land and the area near the northern border of China. It was also used to defend the ancient city of Beijing.

Something strange happened once I started climbing the wall... and it was literally climbing the entire way - each time we got to a section we would look up and say - ok we'll just go to the next one... and the next one... and the next one... before I knew it we had climbed to the very top of that section and there was nowhere else to go (my competitive nature always gets me in spots I am not sure I want to be)
It took us three hours to get to the top and by the time we got there - there were only four of us left... Our friend Damon, his daughter Sydney, Danielle and myself... all the others had dropped out along the way...
in hubby's defense he has a bum knee and went quite a way despite that... and then we had to make our way back down - we definitely did not think this through Lets just say though that I paid the price for my competitiveness and I spent the day after the next yelling every time I had to take a step up or down

Our guide did not climb wit us and was just wondering where we were - she kept asking Karyn (our other friend) if she thought we had gone all the way to the top and she said "Jazz is there and my husband Damon so yes I think thats exactly what they did" \o/ - The guide said that probably only two percent of the people she took there went all the way to the top YEAAAHHH!

[Jazz]

[Jazz]

Unfortunately the smog level was pretty high that day and many of my pics were shrouded because of that

[Jazz]

We were at the fourth level here I think and as you can see nowhere near the top - actually you can;t see the top in this picture because it turns a corner right up there where you see the tippy top of a building in the top right hand corner.