Saturday--Beijing

Up early.  I went out on the patio to take some pictures of the smog sunrise.  We all had breakfast and Aunt Sharon made coffee.  She found a "cup" that she thought was a coffee cup.  It had handles on both sides.  I told her it was for left and right handed people.  Come to find out it was a soup bowl or something.  There were all kinds of real coffee mugs in a different cupboard. 

Here comes the sun.

Smog covered sunrise.

Coffee cup?  Nope but it works.

We loaded up snacks and drinks and headed down to meet Mr. Xue.  Off to Mutianyu Great Wall for the morning.  We drove for less than an hour and arrived by 8:00.  We hit the bathroom while Todd bought the tickets.  Mr. Xue went with us.  We took the ski lift up.  I rode with Mr. Xue.  We took turns taking pictures of us together.  Then he laughed.  Mom and Aunt Sharon rode behind us then Todd and Cameron were last. 

Getting ready to go climb the Great Wall.

Riding up.

Serious conversation going on.

Me and Mr. Xue.

Mom and Aunt Sharon then Todd and Cameron.

My guys.

There is the wall.

Getting off.

Cameron is ready to go.

Awesome site.

At the top we started the hike.  First part wasn't so bad.  It was hilly but hardly any steps.  We turned around and went past where we started and up the other side.  Mr. Xue waited there for us there.  He had never been on the wall so we think he was pretty excited. This section is what we did the last time my parents were with us.  It is very tough.  Steep steps.  Mom started feeling sick so we bought her some crackers, had some water, and took a rest.  She thinks it was her medicine.  She was fine after that.  Todd and I had a couple beers since we were on the Great Wall.  We felt it was our duty.  Cameron had to recreate the undies on the Great Wall photo.  We found a spot where there were no people.  Down came the shorts, huge smile, and suddenly 2 Chinese people came around a corner.  The lady was embarrassed and so was Cameron.  It was funny.  Cameron and I went up into a tower to try again.  Success.  This time he even mooned the camera.  He thought that was hilarious.  Good times!

Checking out the wall.

I'm dreaming of my awesome husband.

One of the towers.

Beginning the walking of the wall.

Steep walk but very few steps.

Up in a tower.

Steep steps.

The wall.

Great shot of the wall.

Great day for a walk.

Love this picture.

Drinking a beer on the wall.

This man was determined to get a picture with Cameron.

Pretty shot.

This lady also made Cameron take a picture and wear a hat.

Lots of steps on this side of the wall.

AARP time out.

This old man kicked our butts and he had a cooler on his back.

Snack break.

Dropping pants on the wall.

Super steep steps.

Todd with his favorite people.

Cute.

We look small compared to Todd in this shot.

Cute family photo.

Back to where we started to ride the slide down the mountain.  It was so fun.  Back to the car for snacks and drinks then we hit the shopping section.  Everything they tell you is one dollar until you are interested and they switch it to a much higher priced rmb amount.  Mom and Aunt Sharon bought some "dresses" they are going to wear around the house.  Aunt Sharon started to talk about wearing it while making Bill breakfast.  I stopped her and told her I was going to start gagging if she continued.  Everyone laughed.  More of the "one dollar" talk so Todd gave Cameron one dollar and a lady showed us a dress and said "one dollar".  Cameron tried to hand her the dollar.  She kind of laughed and then gave us a much higher price.  No thank you.

Mr. Xue checking out the map.

We sent Mr. Xue down first.

Aunt Sharon's turn.

Mom's turn.

We got all bottled up so I took pictures behind me.

All the trees are blooming and are so pretty.

No, we aren't hungry.

Shopping at the wall.

Checking everything out.

These hats are cool.

Cameron finally bought a mask.

Back in the car and headed back to Beijing.  Next stop was the Olympic sites.  We had Mr. Xue drop us off by the Birds Nest.  We were going to go in it but they weren't selling tickets today.  Bummer.  We continued walking around and checked out the Water Cube.  Some day we will get on the inside of these places.  Back in the van.

The Birds Nest.

Broadcasting tower is in the background.

The Water Cube.

Trying to break in.

The Water Cube is a funky building.

We can always find a McDonald's in China.

Sidewalk food.  Yum.

Did that hurt Cameron?

We went to Frank's Place and had beers, milk shake, Diet Coke, and nachos.  It was an open air bar so it was lovely sitting there.  Cameron and mom played darts.  We then walked a block to Park Side Bar.  There we had beers, milk shake, and cheese bread.  Back in the van.

Outside of Frank's Place.

Beautiful day for a drink.

Cheers.

A game of darts.

Outside of Park Side. 

Another cheers.

Comfy furniture to hang out on.

A Harley Davidson.

Next stop was Sunny Gold Market.  We stopped to see my purse lady.  Mom bought 3, I bought 2, and Aunt Sharon bought 2.  Todd bought 2 flash lights from one of his "friends" who is always so nice to us when we are in there.  Back in the van again and back to the hotel.

Is this a market or a mabket?

Todd chatting with my purse lady.

I'm on the deck taking a picture of Cameron in the bathroom. 
He is showing us his thoughts.

Mom, Cameron, and Aunt Sharon played Qwitch, a game of Go Fish and UNO. Next we headed out to dinner.  On the way I got a text from Ileana asking how our day went and if I knew of restaurants that would deliver to their hotel in Beijing.  Aunt Sharon said "just tell them to look in the phone book".  After laughing Todd asked how they would talk.  Mom said "how would they read the numbers?" Todd said "the numbers are the same but they won't be able to speak the language".  I chimed in with "and where is this phone book?  You do remember this is china right?". We all had a good laugh.  We have learned what China is all about but the other two...not so much.  Stuck in their Illinois ways.  It makes for good comic relief.

Big game of Qwitch.

We went to dinner at a Peking Duck Restaurant.  We had duck, asparagus, green beans, cod, and duck dessert.  It was good.  Aunt Sharon saw her first giant beer we have in China.  The look on her face was hilarious.  Everything was very tasty.

We are going in to eat duck.

Do they looked scared?  Mom shouldn't be.  She has had duck before.

Cameron decided to take a picture.

Aunt Sharon couldn't believe how big the bottles of beer are.

Todd giving a chop stick lesson.  They used forks.

Aunt Sharon thought the duck desserts were cute.

Most of our food.

Here is our duck.

The ducks death certificate.  So sad.

Getting a lesson on how to make a duck taco.

Aunt Sharon's first bite.

Take that ducky dessert.

Full belly's ready to go back to the hotel.

Meditating on the corner waiting for our driver.

Back in the van and back to the hotel.  Another great day in China.