Sunday

Day 2.
the day began as others. Sun comes up. Alarm goes off. Shower, breakfAst, pack the day bag. Sunscreen jacket & down to the lobby in time.
Heading west our first stop was the Jade 'factory'. Given its a natural product - not sure how it manufactures anything. But it does turn rocks into some very beautiful things. A good lesson in types of jade & how to pick a fake. Then we shopped.
The bangles were lovely but not for me. Found a lovely little pendant & a 'happy family ball'. Taking around a week to make its a ball in a ball in a ball. 4 holes represent the seasons & 12 holes the months of a year.
It was then joining the chaos of traffic heading to the same place we were - Mings Tomb. All would be quite simple I'm sure - except it's the National long weekend for visiting tombs.
Out in the region is the rich soils perfect for cultivation & the apple tellers are all bursting in to bloom. And with the mountains overlooking us, we had glimpses of the Great Wall as we sat & waited. & waited. & waited.

Pulling into Ming's Mausoleum there were busses lined up. But again the scale on which these places were built are more than adequate to accommodate such crowds. It felt quite peaceful behind the walls. A wander around & a climb to the top before returning to the bus with my new middle age house wife hat & a fan.

Next stop was for lunch. Apparently it was only about 25min trip - but not today. We pulled into lunch at about 2:20pm.... We'd left for lunch just after 1:15. So that wasn't too bad at all.

Another regional selection filled the lazy Susan before heading down stairs to look through the shop.
Coister is an old traditional art of the colourful painted pots & jewllry. Got the girls a 'sisters' painting & picked up a couple of colourful Christmas ornaments. Would have bought more but we've a weight limit for the next leg of our trip!!

Last stop for the day was the one we have all been looking forward to - The Great Wall. We got to climb as far as we could/wanted for 90mins. I managed a few hundred making it past tower 7,8&9. Jelly legs on the return but was greatf up the vertigo didn't get me too bad coming down (there's a real knack to it). A wander around some of the other buildings before a look in the gift shop. Collected out commemorative scroll to signify our achievement then headed back toward Beijing for dinner.

Dumpling dinner was overshadowed by the other 9 dishes served on the table. Delicious none the less however the speed in which we have to eat does take away from the way Chinese food should be enjoyed....slowly grazing.

A shower. Off load the photos from today, a quick walk around the hotel before collapsing into bed one more time.

The Great Wall in Spring