OMG we're on the GREAT WALL!!!

Feb 16, 2015

It was a BEAUTIFUL blue sky day in Beijing. I was worried that the city was always covered in grey clouds and it was just something we'd have to get used to; however, this was not the case. The temperatures was in the mid 50's, but it was forecasted to be VERY windy, which it was. First thing in the morning, after breakfast, we visited the Ming Tombs and walked along the Sacred Way. The tombs were settled in the hills outside of the city and the site was chosen due to it's Fenghui alignments. The shape of the hills and the valley are very guarded against evil spirits and thus ideal.

The Sacred Way was a long path through a wooded garden lined with auspicious animal statues. Lions, Elephants, Camels, and a Chinese mythical creatures like the Beeshee (the body of a turtle and the head of a dragon), and the Kylin (scaled of a fish, legs of a deer, tail of an ox and the head of a dragon). Each animal had 2 sets of statues; one prone (resting) and one standing (on guard). They were beautiful stone sculptures and great for April and I to 'stop drop and yoga' in front of; naturally there were a few versions of "camel pose" and a brief "elephant's trunk". There were several lovely gates signifying the unity between heaven and earth and were all about keeping evil away and welcoming good fortune. We didn't visit the tombs themselves, but it was nice to be outside in the sunshine listening to the magpies.

Next stop was to the jade factory. Jade is a very sacred stone in China and is highly coveted for it's powers. We learned that there are 3 versions of jade; soft jade--used for carving and often looks like "mutton fat" because of it's natural shine and color, hard jade-used for jewelry and some statues; and jadeite--living jade used for jewelry and will change colors over time. Just like the Green Stone in New Zealand the Chinese believe that "you give life to the jade, and the jade gives you life", it is best worn near the skin so our natural oils keep it polished and you are able to absorb it's healing powers. It is very common that women will wear a jade bangle on their left side and men will wear a circular pendant under their shirts. To date the Chinese have found 36 natural occurring colors of jade-dark green, light green, yellow, purples-you name it. Because the stone is so hard it must be drilled with diamond drills and we were able to see a man working on a "family unity ball" (3 layers of circular jade rings, carved inside the other signifying 3 generations of family protected by a dragon (male power) and phoenix (female power) aka happy couple) . These techniques are passed down from generation to generation and are often seen as family secrets. While all the jade was lovely, the prices…not so much. One jade bangle was $240. Beautiful, powerful, significant, and WAY outside my price range. The women at the shop reminded us that they were investment pieces and could passed down from generation to generation, but it just wasn't in the cards. Upstairs from the shop was our dinning room for lunch. A westernized "traditional" family style lunch with many different dishes including veggies, meat dishes and soups.

Then it was time…

After a short drive through the hills we were able to catch out 1st glimpses of the Great Wall. Not one continuous wall, we climbed the Badaling section, only part of the 3,500mi span. I won't bore you with the historic details of the who and why, you can read those in the history books; the highlight of this experience was the fact that climbing the wall, really means CLIMBING the wall. I cannot find the words to describe how STEEP sections of our trek really were. We were thankful for the sunshine and handrails because any type of rain or snow would have made it EXTREMELY dangerous. The wind was whipping, but it meant the pollution was blown north and the clear blue skies were the perfect backdrop. Naturally there were more yoga poses and utter excitement (o.m.g. we are on the GREAT WALL!!!!); it was truly a breathtaking accomplishment and another check on the bucket list.

Right before sunset we visited the 2008 Olympics site, the Bird's Nest. In comparison to the other 2 Olympic sites I've visited (Salt Lake City and Sydney), the Bird's Nest and Water Cube site felt much more grand. The Chinese are definitely a "go big or go home" type of people. While leads me to our after hours adventure. One of the guys in our tour group is a college student studying abroad in China. April and I tagged along with him, his parents, and 2 sisters in our group to explore the "Night Market" in downtown Beijing. We took the subway (nice and clean and easy to navigate) a few stops and with some help from the locals found a mostly hidden alleyway lined with food vendors. Our guide warned us against eating any meat at the market because some of the meat might have been their for 7 weeks (gross).
However, we knew one item was extremely fresh because we saw it wiggling on the sticks…the scorpions! We all ordered a stick of 3 and watched as they were dipped in the fryer and handed over for our culinary pleasure. I took a video of April and the others (the brave ones who took the 1st bites) and I will try to add it below. April described it was tasting like fried chicken skin, but I thought it was more like a fried soft crab's legs; salty and crunchy. We walked along the alley absorbing the sites and smells of the truly local Beijing. We also tried some sugar coated fruits, and roasted nuts. I was very surprised at the cleanliness of the alley considering the amount of food being purchased and that there were trash cans every few feet. Things didn't always smell so wonderful, but littering was definitely discouraged. A subway ride back to our underground mall and to the hotel for a 9:30pm dinner. We were both exhausted after a big day, so we packed out bags for Shanghai and crahsed