Day 3 the great wall

Another great day with lots of travel. We started of with a visit to the tombs of the Ming Emperors.

Well actually we started off with breakfast.

 

Rice buns

 

Mystery buns

Chinese bean and sweet pancakes

 

On the first day this was her favorite. Rice Congee. Now she's starting to lust for a burger.

 

Then it was off to the Ming Tombs. Somewhat reminiscent of the Pharaohs there was quite the ritual for entombment including the favorite concubines. Can't seem to find those photos so maybe we'll be able to post those tomorrow.

and then of to the wall.

Anyone who has done any mountain climbing know the feeling of thinking you see the top only to find, when you get to the spot, there is another rise. you can see above and behind me sticking into the skyline a tower along the wall. By the time i got there some of those who had passed me were engaged in throwing up from the exertion. I sat for a while and figured i hadnt come this far to wimp out at this point.

 

 

So here i am at that tower i spoke of. Imagine my delight on finding two more towers behind now in sight.

 

 

I was pretty pleased with myself. At the end i was going up ten steps and then sitting for a bit but ended up being one of only three anglos from those we started with that made it that far. Was was recently out of the Canadian armed forces so he doesn't count. After a short rest it was time to decend. About 1/2 way down i passed a girl Eva's age heading up. Some of the steps came to her waste but she was still going strong.

Visited the Ming tombs. So beautiful and peaceful. Now at the Great Wall in 91 degrees. Davids climbing. I'm taking a raincheck. The wall isnt what i expected. You have to climb a mountain to get to the wall. Somehow I thought we could park at the top and start walking. Second its quite wide. I pictured The wall that Ollie walks on between his school and Dylans - very narrow. It is magnificent and amazing to think about when they started building it.

He did it! He walked 1 1/2 hoyrs just to get to what he felt was a good place to call the top. David you're amazing. I had a cold coke waiting for him. ( they didn't have gatorade).

Tonight is peking duck dinner. Aaron i'll save you a pancake. Deborah, i'm sure i'll order too much.

Beforea

After.

Sorry to keep focusing on bathrooms but maybe the secret to cultural diversity is toileting habits. When one enters a public bathroom theres a large roll of toilet paper. You take what you need before you enter the stall.

I have a friend who just returned from China with a group. There was a stomach bug outbreak. Seeing is she is a nurse she was sent to the pharmacy to get meds. The next day the guide informed them that she got them pregnancy drugs. I tell this story because my bunion is acting up - no big deal. We went to the drug store, where btw, the saleswomen wore nurses caps! I tried to take their picture but they declined. Any way i show them my foot and she hands me a box. I go to open it but (makes sense) i cant until i pay. It turns out it was bandaids. So we go to another sales nurse and she gives me a different box after David draws a picture of a bunion pad. I go to put it on today and its wart remover. Oh well. I'll live.

Now we're off to harbin where i give my talks and have 3 welcome dinners. The question is will they still welcome me after meeting me.

Serious musings from Melanie. China has been described in some ways as third world (whats the new politically correct term, i forget) . Anyway, in Peking they are so modern and the women here are dressed as they would in NYC. theres clearly money here. I do get not for everyone. Yet i dont get how in this entire country one cant drink the water. For me potable water has always been the defining issue for third world countries. I know Singapore (a much much smaller country) has made water a priority to the point where they are changing the natural course of rivers and they have a giant filter to filter sea water. This does not seem to be a pressing issue for the government here and i wonder why.(at least we heard nothing about it)

At the airport. Sent to a special line. Searched. All understood. Except apparently Chinese women dont wear underwire bras. Ok fine but that was no reason for the woman searching me thoroughly to giggle as she's looking

 

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