Lily, Caden, & Gia Lovers: Angsts Do Asia - July 7

I managed a short run this morning around the Tsinghua University, which we have heard is referred to as the "Harvard of China". So many interesting sites to take in. The moped riders seem to be wearing snugglys, covering their hands and feet completely. Not sure if this is for cooler morning weather (low 70s) or sun protection. The humidity was at 90% '_'. Good training for Cambodia I am sure!

Starting the run with the hotel in the background.

Once we all showered up we went down to the breakfast buffet. Wow! A solid mix of savory and sweet with noodle bars, sushi, and french toast! The kids loved it! They declared it second only to the breakfast buffet at our hotel in Sweden :)

Chopstick Masters...

After breakfast we met Yi and the driver to head to the Great Wall. The drive took nearly 2 hours, and was beautiful - both my seatmates and the mountains out the window :)

Once there, we began the marathon journey to get to the gondola to make it to the 7th gate of the Great Wall. It went sometime like:

15 minutes pushing through swarms of women in the restrooms to get into a "squatty potty" (which is exactly what it sounds like - a hole in the floor where wiping is contingent on your having the foresight to have tissues on you).

30 minutes to get on the bus to drive to the gondola line. It was here that we realized how smart it is to carry umbrellas and where hats were purchased from the vendors calling out from the other side of the fence.

The bus ride included what I assume was a riveting talk by the bus host. It lasted the entire 20 minute ride but was all in Chinese.

Once at the gondola station the real fun began. Waiting in lines in China is a contact sport. You do not wait politely behind the people in front of you. You wait for any opportunity to pounce and push your way forward - elderly and lame be damned. This line took TWO HOURS! And it was riddled with false hopes. It would snake one way, and you'd think your final destination is just around the corner, and then you'd enter a new phase of people coming towards you - people you hadn't yet seen. It was an hour or so into this stage of the journey that we began to lose Caden and Gia. Caden went from referring to this trip to the Great Wall as one of the "best days of his life" to wanting to just turn around and head home. The only bright spot was a vendor selling ice cream bars and fruit on the final 30 minute leg of the line. With ice cream, water melon, and plums, we soldiered on. Oh, and one other bright spot was this sweet (or at least I think she was sweet) older Chinese lady kept petting Gia's hair and touching her arm when the line crush brought us together. I have no idea what she was saying, but I think it was positive

Once in the gondola building the line continued to snake along - and then - we were there! Glory be! We settled in for the journey...and then 4 minutes later, we arrived. No joke.

You can see the look of relief of finally sitting in the gondola!

Our gondola buddies. This little girls was too cute!

The wall did not disappoint! Despite throngs of people, it was beautiful! Hard to believe this portion of the wall was built in the 1300s - 1600s. All in there are 13,000 miles of wall that have been built by various dynasties throughout the ages. Here is the official Wikipedia description, "The Great Wall of China (Chinese: 萬里長城; pinyin: Wànlǐ Chángchéng) is the collective name of a series of fortificationsystems generally built across the historical northern borders of China to protect and consolidate territories of Chinese states and empires against various nomadic groups of the steppe and their polities. Several walls were being built from as early as the 7th century BC by ancient Chinese states;^[2] selective stretches were later joined together by Qin Shi Huang(220–206 BC), the first Emperor of China. Little of the Qin wall remains.^[3] Later on, many successive dynasties have built and maintained multiple stretches of border walls. The most currently well-known of the walls were built by the Ming dynasty (1368–1644)."

The view on the way up '_'

The view behind '_'

In case you ever visit The Great Wall during summer break and a school holiday, this is what you should expect.

We hiked up to highest point of the wall and down a bit. There were countless steps, none of which were the same height. I was all the more amazed with the elderly on this journey - some with canes - and the marathon that is run on the Great Wall in May.

We made it!

Cutest climbers!

After a bit of meandering about, we headed for the hills. Luckily the lines were much shorter going this way. Based on the time stamp of my pics, the journey to the top took 2 hours and 25 minutes. Yikes!

On the way down...

Looking up at the gondola

Celebrating our sweet victory!

Gia's thoughts, "it was tiring but it was really fun. Even though it was long, it was worth it to see the beautiful views. Favorite quote by Gia on this trip as she prepared to nap in the car as we all struggled with the jet lag, "I can nap like a boss!"

Lily 'sthoughts - "Bring an umbrella if you go (to shad you from the sun). She has renamed the experience, The Great Wait of China :)

Caden's thoughts - "the Great Wall is Scary! Too high up. But it was cool to see all of the mountains.

Close up of the hats. Why don't more hats have rings?!?

The kids all fell fast asleep on the drive home.

Once back, we showered and rested a bit before dinner. The kids were dangerously close to falling asleep again, so we ventured to Starbucks, just up the road by the university. The kids were thrilled that frappuccinos are in China too, although not as any options.

Dinner this evening was Peking Duck. We had a small, private room for our group, which included Yi, another student Jae, and the professor that invited Corey. The menu was detailed and beautiful. And the process of raising and killing ducks was pictorially highlighted in both the menu and the walls. Ugh. Regardless, the food was delicious! You make little 'duck tacos' with a tortilla, cucumber, and a few other yummy fixins'. Other dinner highlights were the toothpick dispenser that dispensed a toothpick when you waved your hand over the top, the table tent that included a button to summon your server, and mobile phone chargers. Oh, and the kids played the claw machine and won. As usual. Yay. Welcome to the family GInger.