April 15, 2011

What can I say?  This was a truly amazing day.  First, the Great Wall.  I walked up the steps of the mountain to see the wall.  I could have taken a gondola but I wanted to experience the walk…or should I say climb.  WOW, what a climb it was!  The wall inspires many questions to accompany its demonstration of mankind’s’ ingenuity and ambition.  Actually, when I was on the wall, I posed to my friends as to how much hate a people had to have to build a wall such as the Great Wall.  The wall was specifically built to prevent a group of people and a culture from invading China.  The wall is truly a wonder of the world.  I had goose-bumps standing on it.  Many vendors line the strip as you leave.  I bought a few items, but the cost was far less than what it is in the US.  Six of us jumped out near the Olympic village after the trip to the Great Wall.  We toured the Bird Nest and the Water Cube before hitting the subway for a ride back to the hotel.  The funny part was that the electronic kiosk was supposed to take our 2 Yuan paper dollars, but it didn’t.  We needed coins to make it happen.  I had a great experience on the subway.  A young girl in the 4-5 yr old range got on the subway with her mother and grandmother.  I was standing in a crowd while she sat on her mother’s lap.  She didn’t see me at first, but when she did her eyes lit up and she said “lao wai” (which means foreigner).  This embarrassed her mother, but I understood what she said and knew she was sharing the honesty of a child.  I did my best to reassure that I understood what she said and that she was only a small girl sharing her knowledge.  I then gave the girl an Indy 500 key chain that Amber helped me purchase.  All I can say is that I made this small Beijing girl’s day.  She said, “bye-bye” to me many times.  I said both zai jian and bye-bye to her.  The group of folks I am traveling with had an American style pizza dinner at Tube Station.  The pizza was good.  Afterwards, we headed to the hotel to prepare for our next leg of the journey which happens tomorrow.  It seems I have been in China just a few days and it seems like a year at times.  Lol