In China
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Saturday, May 25, 2013 Another wonderful day in Beijing!! Today we had another wonderful breakfast here at our hotel including awesome sauteed baby bok choy! We think we may need to add this to our breakfast list at home it was so good. Next, we met our guide, Shirley and driver Mr. Lee to go to see the Great Wall! On the way we stopped at a Jade factory where we were able to see some workers carving jade. We learned that Jade comes in many more colors than green and that it is very hard and must be cut with a diamond drill. It becomes very hot while the worker is cutting it, therefore they must have a stream of water spraying on it as they work to cool it and to cut down on the dust. It is absolutely unbelievable all of the intricate details that these workers are able to do in the jade. We learned that there is not a school they go to in order to learn this skill, but rather it is a skill which is passed down from generation to generation in their families. Next, we traveled to the Great Wall. Great it certainly is. Tony climbed very high while I stayed and watched. We are amazed at how it was built and how very steep it actually is in places! We loved the story of the locks we saw hanging on the Great Wall because we were told that couples who are in love come there and hang them. Then they throw the key over the side to symbolize their love will never be broken. Next, we went to an authentic Chinese restaurant for lunch where we had delicious food and then to buy souvenirs . We left there and went to the Summer Palace, which is mostly comprised of a huge man-made lake. We learned that there was a canal built which the Emperor and his family traveled in order to get to the Summer palace from the Forbidden City. It is a beautiful park and we very much enjoyed our boat ride while we were there. It was a beautiful day and there were many families and couples there spending the day on paddle boats on the lake. We were told that during the winter this lake freezes and people then come to ice skate on it. On the way back to our hotel, we stopped to take pictures of the Bird's Nest, home of the 2008 Summer Olympics. We did not go in, but were able to take pictures of the water cube where Michael Phelps won his medals and the Bird's Nest itself. Once again, one more thoroughly enjoyed day and a step closer to the day when we see our beautiful little boy.

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