Our Last Day B.K. (Before Kids)

As if being in China wasn't enough to make our heads spin, we found ourselves climbing the Great Wall and walking in the footsteps of emperors today. I have bruises from where Michelle keeps pinching me. It really is surreal.

We started our day off with a trip north of Beijing to visit a portion of the Great Wall. The shear scale of it boggles the mind. Even though the rumor about it being visible from space has been debunked (read what NASA has to say on the topic here) it is still way big and very, very impressive.

Of course, as with every monumental attraction in China, there were many other tourists visiting the wall today like we were. Climbing was complicated by the throngs moving up and down in semi-orderly fashion. Americans have to quickly adjust to the fact that many of the world's cultures just don't share our passion for standing in lines and waiting one's turn. I paused several times to let a senior citizen go before me only to have someone from behind me cut us both off.

The one thing all tourist are universally good at (Americans might actually take the title in this one) is stopping dead in their tracks in the middle of wherever they are to do a tourist thing. Many people would just come to a complete and unexpected standstill to snap a photo or take a sip of water. Perfectly acceptable and expected unless you're in the middle of a crowd moving cautiously on very steep steps. I wistnessed some near fatal collisions.

The portion of wall we visited was clearly refurbished and very well maintained. I have read that many portions are in near or complete disintegration. The full length exceeds 4,100 miles, which in and of itself is a staggering fact when you realize that the entire continental US is I believe under 3,000 wide.

For lunch we visited a set-up that we are learning is a very typical tourist trap. The scenario goes something like this: build a factory showcasing the production of one of the many fine crafts that China is famous for (jade, silk, embroidery, cloisonne) and stick a reasonable good restaurant on it and an enormous 'discount' store. Free tours of the production process are given by guides that speak very good English and afterwards groups are lead immediately into the shopping area where there are a gazzillion sales associates standing at the ready.

Despite the fact that it all smacked of consumerism the insight I gained into how these beautiful pieces of artwork are created made it all worth while. Today we visited a cloisonne factory and I have to say that I was amazed at the number of steps and level of effort that goes into creating one piece. These items are not mass produced. Each one is painstakingly made by hand. Many hands in fact.

From lunch we headed back into Beijing to visit Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City. Not enough can be said about these two places so I won't even try. We all know about Tianamen Square since it was brought crashing into our collective consciousness in 1989. The square is in front of the Forbidden City, the home of the emperor, and is in fact considered the 'court yard'. Like we mentioned in previous posts the Chinese emperors did nothing on a scale short of grand.

Portions of the Forbidden City are covered in scaffolding for renovation. Nearly everything is being touched up for the 2008 Olympics. The make over is wonderful to behold. The color are spectacular. You can compare redone portions against old areas and it all reminds me of before and after images I have seen of the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

Well it is 10pm here in China's capitol and I have to break the computer down now and pack for our trip tomorrow to Changsha. I can't believe our daughter's 'gotcha day' will be here in less than 2 hours. Sleep is not going to come easily for us. We leave for the airport at 5:30am so we'll have an early start to a very special day. Our appointment at the provincial adoption services agency is at 4pm. At that time, we will be handed our daughter. By the time most of you read this, we will have Shu Fang in our arms.

Sweat Dreams!

Andrew