A Full Day!

Today was definitely a full day! We started out by meeting our guide at 10:00am in the hotel lobby. We headed out for the Great Wall, but stopped by the jade factory on the way there. The work the jade carvers do is quite unbelievable...and from one piece of jade! We looked around a bit and admired all of the goods and then headed on out to the Great Wall.

Let me just say that pictures do not do it justice. It is so massive that you only catch pieces of it in any one photograph. We climbed up to the first watch tower, but that was as far as our tired legs could take us. Thankfully, it as sunny, but the wind made it quite cold.

From the Great Wall we made our way to the Summer Palace. It was built by Emporor Qianlong for his mother's 60th birthday. There is a massive lake on the property that was peppered with paddle boats. Along the lake is a long corridor which holds the Guiness Book of World Recofrds longest corridor award. Each beam and cross beam is beautifully painted. It was a beautiful day for having a leisurely walk along the lake.

Lastly, we attended the Chinese Acrobat show which was great. The acrobats are amazingly flexible and strong!

I am so tired I can't think straight right now, so I'm going to close. I will try to post more later as my brain becomes less foggy.

And to update you all on what happens next...
We will check out of the hotel tomorrow morning and visit Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City. From there we travel to the airport. Our flight for Guangzhou leaves around 3:15 tomorrow afternoon. We get Sophie on Monday!

Thanks for all of the comments you all are leaving. We have loved reading each one!