Of course the Silk Market was also closed. Lizzie was back from India and had been in Beijing for a few days with her parents. We were hoping to meet up with her so she could meet Derek, Dan and Ryan but realized that it probably just wouldn’t happen. We were leaving on Thursday and had plans for Wednesday and it was already Tuesday. After realizing that the Silk Market wasn’t going to happen Greg suggested just sitting in Starbucks. I could feel my mood going down. We only had a little time left in Beijing and my frustration with Chinese New Year was becoming apparent. In attempts to cheer myself up with biscotti and and Iced Shaken lemon tea who walks into Starbucks? I look over and see a white person who looks so familiar. I was Lizzie’s mom, with Lizzie and her dad following closely behind. We had no idea but their hotel was pretty much right beside that Starbucks. We sat with Lizzie and her parents for a little while before heading back to her (swanky) hotel for a bit. We texted the other guys and got them to meet at our part of town. I was mostly happy that Lizzie was able to meet our friends from home, and happy they could put a face to the many stories. I think Dan was happiest to meet her. We went to Pizza Hut, before parting ways with Lizzie. We did have a pretty big day on Wednesday.
Wednesday was a great day. The day started off right with an American breakfast (…with bacon!) before we were picked up by a pretty cool old Chinese guy. Our tour guide. We hopped on a van of about 10 other people and began our journey to the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall (is not actually directly in Beijing) is actually accessible by bus. The city bus will take you to Ba Da Ling. This area of the wall, being the most accessible, is the most touristy. Though, cheapest way to see the wall. We chose not to do this. We figure if we’re going to see the Great Wall of freakin’ China, we should do it right. So, we paid a bit extra and took the van. The van took us to a further area. We left around 8am and arrived around 9. We were surprisingly the first people at the wall. We started our climb. Which consisted of many trees, and crooked steps. It was a pretty cold day, and we were all bundled up real well. But, I started peeling off clothing before we even reached our main descent. I was already amazed looked out at the ground we had already covered, thinking “oh wow, oh wow we’re about to climb the Great Wall of China”. This feeling was in no comparison to how I felt when we actually got to the steps taking us to the wall. When we reached the mountain the five of us were just in complete awe, no one spoke a whole lot for the first few moments. Just looking out and seeing the length of the wall, a length so long that you cannot see the end. Seeing first hand what we had all seen a million times on TV, in books. We continued to climb the wall, not letting the steep (and I mean STEEP), crooked, gnarly, jagged steps kick our ass. No joke steps go from mini, to the size of my thigh. There was a constant changing in climbing technique; side step, crawling like a baby, running and skipping a step. The view was just phenomenal. And, just knowing that we were on the Great Wall of China was the coolest thing. Around 10 we started to head back to meet our group. Derek and I decided to grab a Great Wall beer for the walk back.
The Great Wall, so untraditionally, offers a luge type slide down to the bottom. I doubt this is what the Chinese had in mind when they were thinking about keeping the Mongolians out. The slide was sweeeeeeet! It was pretty long, sometimes steep with tight curves and the option to go fast. Worth the 80 yuan or whatever it was. So fun. We spent the rest of the time at the wall brushing off vendors.
We left the wall and were taken to a Jade factory which was surprisingly interesting. I had about,uh, zero interest in Jade prior to this trip. But, I left having spent a good chunk of money on souvenirs for my family. We got to see how different Jade sculptures were made and learned how to differentiate Jade from, well, not Jade. We ate lunch at the factory and spoke with a family from Michigan who are now also living in China (in a small town near Harbin–cold!). After the factory we were then taken to the Underground palace. I had actually never even heard of this place before, but I’m glad it was offered in our tour. It deemed a lot more interesting than I thought (worth googling, do it). After the Underground Palace we were teased. Our guide told us that he was taking us to the Silk Market. This got me all kinds of excited since we missed the markets the day before because they were closed. But, this Silk Market was actually just that, a Silk… market. A factory where they sell silk bedding and clothing. They teach you about the silk, which would have been much cooler if I didn’t spend a chunk of my childhood playing ‘Where in the World is Carmen San Diego’ on the computer and already knew its origin. Then, after teaching you about the silk (really, it is all a sales pitch) they try to uncomfortably coax you into buying their silk bedding. I was cornered (but didn’t buy any).
The five of us were bored by this and spent our time sitting on the floor of the nice building waiting to leave. All in all, though, it was a great day. We returned to our hostel and spent our final night drinking beers and chatting with a ton of other young travelers. I enjoy this part of traveling. Meeting people from all over the world, and hearing their story is so enjoyable for me. Hearing about where people have gone and what they are doing. What their dreams are makes me reflect on my own, and inspires me to want to travel more.
We left for Thailand the next morning, which is a whole other story.
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