March 9th, 2004

We started our day off at the breakfast buffet in the hotel. It's all very tasty so we load up. Our guide , DouDou, and Mr. Cui met us at 9:00am and we headed off to the Ming Tombs. This is where the 13 Ming dynasty emperors are buried. The main exhibit is built around the tomb of the first Emperor. He is buried there along with his two wives. The doors that sealed the tombs were huge slabs of marble approx 4' x 10' x 4-6" thick. Like other old buildings around the world it's amazing how they were able to move huge pieces of stone so far 600 years ago. Below the main Tomb area was a long promenade, the Sacred Path. There are 24 statues along it. They represented attributes that were important to the Emperor.

After the Tombs we stopped by a jade factory. This seems to be a common thing for tour groups to do. They give you a tour of how the product is made and then invite you into a gallery to look at and hopefully buy some things. We think the guide and drivers share in the commission if we buy something. Unfortunately, we aren't big shoppers and the prices seemed high. The jade carvings were quite intricate but not something I would really want. We will get Ruby a small piece before we leave as it is considered a traditional way to ward off evil sprits.

After the jade factory we went to a Cloisonné factory where we had lunch upstairs in the Friendship store. This place was huge and there were lots of tour buses there so the lunch room was packed! This was nice as often there is somebody hovering right by your table ready to snatch up a plate as soon as it is empty.  This time we were left alone more!  We inquired about one of the dishes the young woman serving us said that it was snake.  Dan made the slithering along the ground gesture to confirm that we were referring to the same thing.  Ultimately, we learned that she actually meant "snack", but the exchange and the thought that it truly was snake was pretty comical.  So far the lunches have been better than the dinners.  Excellent dumplings today!

After lunch we were "invited" to take a tour of the Cloisonné process. This was actually very interesting. We got a few pieces from our antique deal 2 years ago but didn't know much about it. They start with a copper base in whatever shape they are doing. They then glue on thin strips of cooper that have been formed into different shapes. Depending on the size of the piece and complexity of the design there can be hundreds to thousands of small pieces glued on. These pieces then define areas that are filled with different colors of enamel and are fired. After firing, the enamel shrinks back so they have to refill it as many as 6 times. It is then polished to smooth it out and bring out the luster. I (Dan) found a vase that I really liked and got them to come down about 30% in price. We probably still paid too much, but that's ok. When you consider the number of hours that went into making the piece it was cheap.

We then headed to the Great Wall! This was the part I was most excited about. Three areas of the Wall are near Beijing. We went to the ? section (don't remember right now, it wasn't the most popular one.) Our guide and driver waited in the car for us as we headed up the wall. There were 5 towers along this section of wall. Originally, they would send signals back to Beijing by a system of smoke or fire to warn of impending attacks. The stairs could be very steep and high in places. Amazingly, no one seems to fall and get hurt. In the US it would be a lawsuit waiting to happen! There are handrails along the sides which helps. You can tell the Chinese people lead a more healthful lifestyle as there were people of all ages charging up the wall, usually with shoes on that didn't look too supportive. I had our camcorder on a monopod and filmed most of the way up. The monopod acted as a counterbalance so it wasn't too jittery. Everybody seemed to get a kick out of me coming up the wall with the camera going. The advantage of the monopod was it made a great walking stick for the down climb. The railing was often too low for me to use comfortably.

Julie stopped at the second tower. She knew that her knee would be in bad shape if she continued on. The climb doesn't bother her, but the descent does.  She got to pose for a few photos, while I climbed.  After huffing and puffing I made it up to the top tower. It was fun to look back down over the wall sections below. The wall is an amazing building feat. This section of  wall ended at the top. I guess is starts and stops in various places. After we got back down we headed back to Beijing for dinner.

We went to a restaurant inside a park. It was our most bizarre dining experience to date. We were lead into a room that was probably around 12' x 15' with only had two small tables set up. We were the only ones there. They would bring us food and then one women would stand to the side and keep filling our tea cups or rearrange the food every few minutes. If the food had been better the bizarre location would have been more tolerable. We felt as if we were players in a scene from the movie Delicatessen and kept waiting for a bellboy with a monkey and calliope to come passing thru. We had to keep from laughing out loud, as we didn't want to offend the women serving us.   I'm really curious why the local agency responsible for our tour would pick that place. We felt like we were sequestered away!

After we got back to our hotel Julie went into one of the shops in the lobby and found that the prices there were much lower than the silk supermarket we had visited the day before!  She came up to the room with about 5 dresses to try on but didn't buy any.  Instead, she bought a red silk vest with a warm wool-like lining that should fit Ruby in another year or more.  Although we might find it for less later, it was bargained down to 50% off of the label price.  The women in the shop were a pleasure to deal with and did not put on any pressure to purchase.  We are going to try to visit a market in the morning to do some shopping before our guide meets us. We fly to Fuzhou tomorrow night and then leave via the train for Guangze on the 11th. Hopefully we will be able to post from Fuzhou before we leave for Guangze.

Dan and Julie

	At the entrance to the Ming tombs
Goofing off along the Sacred Pathway which lead up to the Ming Tombs
	Julie at the Great Wall
Dan at the Second Tower

	Self portrait on the way up
Julie on top of the Second Tower
	Another self portrait on the way up

	View from the top!
One of the many couples on the wall. They tried to speak to me in Chinese.  Unfortunately, I couldn't understand them.
	Heading back down! Our legs will be sore tomorrow.