Exploring the Great Wall

Firstly, I forgot to mention quite a few things that we have already done or have happened to us.

In Shanghai I forgot to mention that we visited the Jinmao Tower (the tallest in China - but not for long as they are building 2 taller ones right next to it - we got quite a few pictures of the contruction workers from the Jinmao Tower)

In Beijing, I forgot to mention that because of the 2008 Olympics the entire city is under construction and renovation...the hotel we were staying in was on a market street (and was also a sex shop street!) and the entire market is being torn down to make way for a snazzier and more tourist-friendly upper-class market. So most of the people working in these market stalls will have to go back to their home towns without compensation, as they only rent the space).

I also forgot to mention on saturday, after visiting the Forbidden City and the rickshaw ride we were left at the end of Behei Park where there were people offering massages ( we couldnt resist :) and there was an old man writing chinese characters with a huge brush and water on the pavement - after he spotted us he gave me the brush to write (well, I couldnt remember most of my characters even though I had an exam a month ago so I just wrote "wo shi hen hao" I am very well" :) well, the guy was happy! Afterwards, we got into a taxi to go to yet another photography shop (Jo is addicted!!) and our taxi got into an accident!!! He hit another car while changing lanes - quite interesting to watch, at first they werent mad, then they became mad, then the police came, and then they shook hands!

So, I think that is all I have forgotten so on with the trip :)

We went to the Great Wall - We had to get up at 3:40 in the morning because the guy with whom we booked the tour told us that the bus left at 5:00 (we wanted to see the sunrise in the wall so we said why not - however that was not what was in store for us!) Once we got on the bus and it started to move, ten minutes after it was stopping again - we didnt understand why but we followed the crowd - It is when you are standing around Tiananmen Square at 5 in the morning to witness the rising of the flag that you comprehend just how many chinese there are!! We were two needles in a hay stack among them!!!

- we were silly enough to book a tour by ourselves (meaning not going to a foreigners travel agency) and we ended up being the only waiguo ren (foreigners) on the bus!! Quite amusing, especially when we were trying to find out at what times we had to be back for the bus. We had a couple of "english" speaking chinese on the bus that would help us so we made a few friends (especially when they needed to open a bottle on the bus and we were the only ones with a swiss army knife :)
The weather was crap - estremely foggy (as opposed to 1999 when it was blue skies!!!) so we went up one side of the wall and took a couple of photos - Jo went as far as we were allowed but since the weather wasnt helping we didnt hang about long. After (as with all chinese tours) we visited shops (one was a jade shop and another a candy shop - I would like to know what commission the guides make when they take us there) Chinese candy is, well, different :)
Afterwards, instead of visiting the Ming Tombs as promised we were taken to the Ming Dynasty Museum - all made of realistic and well made wax works telling the story of the Ming Dynasty from rise to fall - that was quite interesting and luckily for us each work had an explanation in english so we didnt have to follow the guide and pretend to understand what she was saying!

When we got back to Beijing we still managed to visit the White Pagoda, where we ended up witnessing an amazing thunderstorm. On the way back we found that we couldnt take the normal route because there was a huge army celebration happening inside Tiananmen Square and all the roads were closed around it - we saw it on TV this morning from Xi'an :)

Our super deluxe train was leaving for Xi'an at 21:36 and we were told not to be late...so at 8:30 we figured it was a good time to head for the station - that was another adventure - no taxi would stop for us, even when they stopped to let people off I would go beg them and they would still say no - so we were forced to take a rickshjaw but Beijing is huge (and the map will fool you!!) so I told the guy to go fast (we dont have a photo but imagine us both in a rickshaw with our 2 big bags and our 2 small backpacks - we couldnt see a thing!) The guy was trying his hardest but when we told him the train was at 9 (just to make sure) he said we needed a taxi so then he spent 10 minutes while on the rickshaw trying to get a taxi to stop us - I kept saying that they dont like us but fortunately he was able to get one and we made it to the station on the time!!

All the time we feel like needles in hay stacks - there are just sooooo many of them!!! The station was packed!
But once we got into our super deluxe 2 person suite (thats the last time and only time that will happen!!) we were finally able to relax and let our feet take it easy for a while :) We even had our own private bathroom and tv hehehe