Great Wall

Great Wall Of China:

We left the hotel today heading for the Great Wall. We stopped off at a Jade Factory which was amazing... I wanted to buy one of everything, if you ask Shea he may tell you I did. Then off to the Great Wall. Connor was impressive, it is STEEP and the stairs are uneven and a little crazy. Our tour guide George reminded us that it was all built by hand and no machinery to help which makes it that much more incredible. Shea was concerned as we climbed it- that a lot of the stairs would not have been approved by Routt County's "building code." Connor and I went up to the first large "square"  or look out area (seen in the photo) but started down after that. Shea decided to be a go getter and go further- a stellar work out no doubt. The way down was a little scary, and at times my knees were seriously trembling but luckily I somehow convinced Connor that it wasn't too scary and that we could do it. Connor was extremely proud of himself when we looked back up at what he had accomplished.

On the way back towards town, we went to the Olympic Nest, which was fun to see. We crack up at how many different street vendors tried to sell us the same darn kites... it is like visiting Mexico on steroids. But it provides for lasting discussion and entertainment.

Finally after all of those stops, we went to an acrobatic show which was pretty stinking unbelievable... just almost incomprehensible about how these people make their bodies to bend. Shea and I were wishing at that point, that we didn't have to go to the show, but Connor's face watching the performances was pretty sweet and made the stop worth if for both of us. 

When we got back to the hotel we forced Connor to stay up for dinner, and he just crashed... tomorrow- a LOT less activity and a bit more relaxing. We have a flight over to the province, HENAN, where Cassidy lives. We will get to the capital city of her province called Zhengzhou, check into our new hotel and have some downtime. It will be nice to be a bit sleepy and worn out from the first couple of days with hopes that we can sleep tomorrow night. After all, our family goes from 3 to 4 on MONDAY!

Kristen- Good call on the scary sqwatty potties- not our fave thing.
Craig- We could use those foot massages, we will definitely look into those in our next location.

Lots of love!