Day 2 - The Great Wall

The highlight for me today was the Great Wall.  I got kind of emotional as we began our assent.  To walk on the Great Wall really impressed reality upon me that we were in China, as silly as that sounds.  It was a beautiful portion of the wall just outside of Beijing on a beautiful day.  I learned that there are three places around Beijing that you can visit parts of the Great Wall and this section that we went to was actually less touristy so it was kind of nice.  It was so beautiful.  The steps were very steep and uneven.  We met a family with two elderly sisters from China that had been 'training' for a year to come and climb the wall.  It was an honor to see this remarkable piece of history.  We were able to climb to the highest point of the portion that we were on.  I wanted to just stay at the peak and soak it all in.  We took a ton of photos and each one is more impressive than the next.

Coming down

In the morning we went to the Jade Factory.  It was very interesting and I got some pieces for some gifts and a couple things that I will give to Mia Jade later in her life.  (But if you are going any time soon and you want a little advice, let me know!  I would have done it a little differently if I had it to do over.)  I am glad that we got pieces that we will have forever and I got a couple pieces to give to Mia Jade later in her life.  In China, jade is prized much like diamonds in the US.  In fact George told us that in China the men are suppose to get their bride a jade bangle as well as a diamond thank to the western influence.  

Our guide set things out so that we are ready for baby!

This evening Mom and I, along with the Prejean family, left the rest of our group to catch our plane to Guizhou, Mia Jade's province.  We went from the Great Wall, to lunch, to the airport so we were good and sweaty on our travels but I didn't care.  We were heading to Guizhou!  We were met by our guide David who let us know that our "Gotcha" will be tomorrow at 4:30!  He also was able to get us a little additional information on feedings and that she is now walking (in our last update it was reported that she was not).  This is a good sign for her development.  

The last two days were great fun in the very interesting city of Beijing but now the real thing, Mia Jade.  It's the last night I will be without her and her last night without her family.