The Great Wall was amazing! It was chilly and there had been rain earlier, but that just made it so much better. There was mist around the top towers and the air was clear and chilly - but not once you started moving.
We made it to the fifth floor, and it was so exhilirating to be up that high, especially from all the endorphins. For every meter of Wall, one worker died. It's insane, but after climbing it, you wonder how they could have built it back then, and how they even survived!
The steps were completely uneven, ranging from an inch or so to knee-high.
After the Wall, we ate lunch (which was amazing and nothing like the Chinese food here - this visit has ruined P.F. Chang's for me) then went to a copper museum, where we saw how copper stuff is made. It's obvious why it's so expensive.
Today we went to teh Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. We weren't allowed to see all of the Forbidden City because we're not city officials or part of the military. But it was amazing nonetheless. They are restoring it and it's easy to see which parts have been restored based on the vibrance of the paint.
I got a piece of a brick from the floor for Sam. He wanted the poster of Mao, but I couldn't get it, so I hope the piece of rock will suffice.
After the City, we went to see the house of the most corrupt emperor of the Ching Dynasty. It was very beautiful, but my camera was dead! We also got to see a real Beijing-dweller's house. It was really cool. We entered through the courtyard, which was in the middle surrounded on four sides by the house. For Sam, since he's told me that he wonders about this before, I didn't see how the drainage works, but there was an opening for the entrance on one side, so I guess the water goes from there. Anyways, it's an old couple who lives there and they raise animals and plants.
We took a rickshaw ride, which was pretty cool and scary. Chinese people have no sense of right-of-way when driving, and I was really scared for my life during the rickshaw ride. But it ended up being quite fun. I also learned to haggle today. I bought a fan that was priced at 20 yuan for 10. I'm ready for Shanghai!
There was an earthquake about 1,000 miles from here, and we never felt it. We have been under an "earthquake watch" from 10 - midnight, ranging anywhere from 2 - 6 on the Richter Scale, but it's ten to midnight and nothing has happened.
A few of us got to go to a real tea ceremony. The tea was amazing. They served unsalted sunflower seeds with it. We had jasmine tea. It was very relaxing. I almost fell asleep during the ceremony. They waste a lot of tea in preparation for serving us. But it was very interesting. I'm sure I would have understood it more if they had spoken English and/or I had done more research prior. Don't worry - the tea ceremony hasn't ruined American teas for me. :)
Anyways, we get to sleep in tomorrow morning (free morning = sleep in!), then we're going to the Temple of Heaven, then we have the overnight train ride to Xi'an, which I will be taking Tylenol PM for.
Thanks for your concerns about the Earthquakes. My camera battery is charging and I'll upload the new photos of today sometime tomorrow to my online photo album: http://picasaweb.google.com/journeying.girl. Enjoy!
Xie Xie,
Cait
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