Saturday, February 21, 2009

Today we went to the Great Wall! We took a gondola to the top part of the section we were going to visit, know as the Badaling section. I think that we were told the Badaling section it also called the great 8 part of the Wall. If I heard right it’s because at certain positions at the top you are able to have 8 different sightlines of the mountainous region that surrounds this part of the Wall.

On our way to the Great Wall, we were able to drive past the Olympic Village, the Bird’s Nest, and many other venues that were used for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. We also stopped by the China Beijing North Suburb Industrial Art Factory where Cloisonne Ware is made. What an amazing amount of patience the people working in this factory showed for this great piece of art they were making. One of the factory workers got upset with the tour guide, they exchanged some words, and later he told us that she was upset that the door was being constantly opened; it was warm in that part of the work area and it was about 30 degrees outside, apparently she wasn’t appreciating the cold air! The Cloisonne Ware is definitely a work of art that has been pasted down for generations since the years of the reign of Emperor Chingtai of the Ming dynasty.

After our walk on the Great Wall we visited the Dragon Land Superior Jade Gallery. Here too, an ancient art form was on display. There was a place for us to watch, as people were hand-carving pieces of jade. The patience these people showed in their labor was another remarkable sight to see.

Jen and I went to the Hard Rock Café by way of taxi this evening, but we didn’t sit down to eat. Jen wanted to get Addison a shirt or two and what better place then the Hard Rock, especially since it was the Beijing Hard Rock Café! The taxi ride was nothing short of an adventure, why anyone would want to drive in Beijing, much less a cab, is beyond me. Let’s just say the traffic was a little wild! With over 16 million people that call Beijing home, wild can be expected.