It has been several days since our last blog entry, and thank you for your patience. The fact of the matter is we really didn't have any noteworthy happenings last week. We were very busy, but in the classroom. We gave our mid-term exams last week to a few hundred students between the two of us. Correcting papers kept us quite busy for numerous days.When we did finally finish, we decided to reward ourselves with a trip to the mighty Great Wall. We had been wanting to go but since it is located about an hour and a half outside of Beijing, we had done a good job of putting it off. However, last weekend we committed and made it there.
Adán asked one of his freshman students with good command of English if she would be willing to be our tour guide for the day. She happily agreed with one condition: that she could take a "friend" along. This "friend" appears to us to be a potential boyfriend but we didn't say anything. We just thought the more the merrier.
The students names Xiao Xiao and Bobo. Really they are just nicknames, but honestly everyone calls them these names so we joined in. Xiao Xiao told us her name means "small, small" and that her friend gave it to her because she is so petite. And Bobo got his name from Xiao Xiao because his real name is lengthy and ends with "Bo." These great student did research and located a travel agency that would take us to the Great Wall.We felt our best day to visit would be a Saturday so Xiao Xiao reserved us four seats for an all day excursion. When she relayed this information to us she said to be ready to go Saturday morning at 5:00am! For Pazi and I we thought that was pretty early, but Bobo and Xiao Xiao said that is just about when they get up everyday. Sleeping in by Chinese is almost unheard of. They believe in rising early and having a useful and productive day.
We met at the school's south gate at 5:00am on the dot. At the entrance was a small white van waiting to take us to our tour bus. Along the way there, we picked up about six or seven others who also planned tours with the same company. Finally at around 7:00am we were loaded in a greyhound-type bus with about thirty other people. As we started to depart something hit us, we were the only "foreigners" on the bus. Everyone else was Chinese. Then our tour guide started talking in Chinese on an overhead speaker and made it perfectly clear that this indeed was a Chinese tour.
Since we had not paid yet, the tour lady came to each group on board and collected money. Xiao Xiao felt very bad when the lady gave a different quote than what she was told on the phone. Here in China, the saying goes, "Tough!" We thought that the tour would cost us 130 yuan (less than $20 dollars) but it ended up being $230 (over $32 dollars). We come to find out that we are not only going to the Great Wall but also Ming Tombs, and Old Beijing Park.We reluctantly paid the fees and told Xiao Xiao not to worry about it. We could tell that she was a little frustrated with the situation but we said not to let it ruin the day. Ultimately she agreed and let it go. For the next hour and a half, we took a nap before we would arrive at our destination.
Finally we arrived at the Chang Cheng Badaling. This section of the Great Wall we learned is the most popular of the four total tourist sections of the wall. Millions of visitors flock to this area touted as the highest point of the Great Wall. A tower some 800 meters (2,600 feet) above sea level marks the most congested part of the wall (see photo!). Nonetheless, we set out on a trek to make it up to the top. We spent the next two and a half hours taking it all in. The Great Wall was built, rebuilt, and maintained starting in the 6th century BC and going all the way to the 16th century. It was used to protect the Chinese Empire during the rule of successive dynasties. Being over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles) in length, this man-made wonder is impressive to say the least. It truly is an awesome sight that must be seen in person to fully grasp and appreciate.
Ming Tombs
Our next visit was to the Ming Tombs. This is where we got a true taste of how Chinese visit tourist sites. The tour guide started the tour before our feet even got of the bus. She led the group in several directions not staying in one area for more than two minutes. Xiao Xiao even said that the idea of traveling for many Chinese is to merely snap one photo of the location and move on. It became very apparent to us that we would need to ditch the group. So our group of four set out on our own tour. 
The Ming Tombs is actually very fascinating. Envisioned around 1420 by the third Ming Dynasty emperor Yongle. He selected this location as mausoleum, or burial site. This is the same emperor famous for moving the Chinese capital from Nanjing to Beijing and designing the layout of old Beijing, including several landmarks such as the Imperial Palace better known as the Forbidden City. Following Emperor Yongle's death, thirteen subsequent Ming Dynasty emperors were buried at this same location. The last emperor was laid to rest around the year 1644.
The site of the Ming Dynasty Imperial Tombs was carefully chosen according to Feng Shui principles. An arc-shaped area at the foot of the Jundu Mountains north of Beijing was selected to deflect bad spirits and evil winds descending from the North (see photo). We found this 40 square kilometer area to be very quiet and tranquil just as Emperor Yongle wanted his resting place to be.Eventually we caught back up with our group as we were exiting the facility and heading back to the bus for our last stop--Old Beijing.
Lao Beijing
The last place we visited on our day-long journey was Lao Beijing, Old Beijing. This small and interesting park depicted the way Beijing used to be during the centuries past. We learned about Chinese furniture, Buddhism, brothels (yes brothels), Chinese cars, and even a sword swallowing man.This location was a cross between going to a county fair and the circus. Although it really had nothing real special, we enjoyed it in a cheesy kind of way.
This was on jam-packed day. It started at 5:00 and ended up lasting until about 7:00pm. We thanked both Xiao Xiao and Bobo then headed to crash in bed.
