We saw The Great Wall... or did we?

Wow! what a whirlwind week this has been! Unfortunately, everyone has now left China, and I miss my family so much already! Luckily, their visit made for some great blog content and stories that I've saved and brings back great memories and laughs. We're back in blog business. Many thanks to mom & Kimberly for taking the time to write about their first day in Beijing! Loved it!

After the amazing intro to the history of Beijing for Day 1, we were off to The Great Wall for our 2nd Beijing day. It was a little rainy in the morning so we decide to first visit the Sacred Way while the rain cleared out for the afternoon trip to the Great Wall.

I'd never heard of the Sacred Way before our visit, but it turned out to be a beautiful and serene walk even in the rain. Apparently, there are many different Sacred Ways, all referring to the long roads leading to Heaven constructed for the Emperors. The best preserved Sacred Way leads to the Ming Tombs (for the Emperors of the Ming Dynasty... that probably went without saying? This link helps to explain all of the statues lining the way.

just a lil rain

Happy Daddy's Day!!!! He found his beloved terrapin in China! (more on the bixi in another post)

Paul & Diane seeking much needed sheltered from one of the elephants

our little group. at least we had the place to ourselves :)

After the Sacred Way, it was still raining, and we were off to the Jade factory.

these Chinese family balls were impressive. carved from a single piece of jade and resulted in 4 separate spheres that can be rotated independently. The outer ball has a dragon carved into it which symbolizes the strength of a man in the Chinese family. The 2nd inner ball has a phoenix carved into it which symbolized the women or the mother in the Chinese family. The 3rd inner ball symbolizes the children. And the ball as a whole symbolizes a strong family which signifies happiness and strength over the generations. It is believed that if you own a happy family ball, it would actually bring happiness into your family.

the final, foremost ball begins as the square block of jade on the left.

we all bought some beautiful jade bangles!

Now we were off to The Great Wall! and since the rain had cleared, it was gorgeous.

oh, wait... we didn't see this at all. while I'm sure this was there, we started covered in fog... Kevin took us up to the starting point and suggested we head to the right for the "steep way" or to the left for  the "steeper way". 

Here's how our visit went:

Family photos first: (see the wall in the background?)

First, we headed up the "steeper" way thinking we could break through the fog...

Then we realized just how steep it was...

but if we just make it up to this tower...

oh wait, I think I see something!...

is that more wall in the distance?

let's try the "steep" way. maybe it's below the fog?

well, let's just take some fun photos!

and head back for some refreshing beers :)

and more fog...

 

Kevin lifted our spirits by saying we "are lucky. no one else will have pictures of the Great Wall like you do. I've honestly never seen it like this. You're pictures will be special."

We just had to laugh about our Great Wall experience. It counts! We still had a great time!