Day 2

A super long day today! We started very early, leaving the hotel at 7:15 am, although again we were up really early (4 am!), unable to sleep any longer.  We started the long trek to the Great Wall of China! George, our guide in Beijing, gave us a little mandarin lesson on the way. 

The wall was pretty amazing! I had no idea it would be such a vigorous climb and we were really working up a sweat going up, up, up. We climbed and climbed the stairs and ended up finding a place to stop and get a Popsicle at the top of the section we were at. We were stopped many times by the Chinese people to take a picture with us. I guess seeing Americans with light colored hair is quite a novelty to them!

The pollution was really bad and it made for some not so great pictures from far away. 

Next we visited a jade gallery to learn about the "treasure of China" as our guide calls it. They had some beautiful things and we picked up something special for Eli to give to his bride when he is older. Next was lunch and then a long bus ride (stuck in tons of traffic!) to an acrobatic show. 

The show was really great and they did some amazing tricks!  I had to cover my eyes at several parts because I just knew someone was going to plunge to their death with the crazy stunts. Hannah said it was the best show she had ever seen!  We are so exhausted from nearly 12 hours out and about. Trying to relax the rest of our last evening in Beijing. Tomorrow we head to Zhengzhou to prepare for meeting Eli on Monday!