The Great Wall

The double decker airplane to Seoul



Angela serving Caleb lunch



The bobsled track coming down from the Great Wall

On the Great Wall of China!

One of the Guard Towers

Gargoyles on the Guard Tower

Going up, up, up

Going down, down, down

Unwinding the silk coccoons

I was afraid that our Great Wall Adventure was going to get rained out today.  The forecast was 60% chance of showers, but when Angela got here, it didn't look like rain, so we decided to head on out.

We stopped for money exchange on the way and got to listen to a very upset man argue with the young lady at the bank about how long he had been waiting.  He was very loud, and Angela said he kept saying that he had been waiting too long.  I also saw a little boy in split pants, which is very common, but seeing it in person is really strange.  The little ones wear pants that are split in the crotch with nothing underneath.  I guess it's potty training (and it saves on diapers!), but I can only imagine the mess!

We ate lunch at a small restaurant on the way to the wall.  Angela ordered sweet and sour pork, spicy beef, roast duck, spicy mushrooms, pork dumplings, and a tower of fried shredded potatoes.  It was all very good, and Joshua loved the duck.  He said it tastes like rotisserie chicken.

We finally got there about 4 hours after leaving the hotel.  We rode the ski lift up, and then we walked along one section of the wall.  Caleb and I gave up after a pretty steep section, but Matt and Joshua kept climbing to the end of that rebuilt section, two more guard towers.  It was cool, in the low 70s.  We then walked back along that section to the bobsled area.  We rode the bobsleds down and picked up some t-shirts.

It took about 2 hours to get back into Beijing.  We then visited the government run silk factory and learned about the process of the silk worms and silk processing.

Finally, we made it back to the room where I collapsed for a nap, and now I'm up and Matt's asleep.  The boys are up too (Caleb had a long nap on the way back into town).  I'm going to post the pictures and try to go back to bed.  The time change has really messed us up, and I'm hoping that by tomorrow, we'll be adjusted.

It's the next morning, and I finally got the pictures to upload, because I know that's really what everyone wants to see!  One more sleep until we get Anna!