Saturday - June 30th: Jade factory, the Great Wall, and the Summer Palace

AGAIN woke up early and multiple times.  Derek kept waking us up with his working throughout the night. 

Met the group for a long day of touring.  First stop - Jade factory.  Unbelievable artisans.  Enjoyed learning about Jade and the shopping, of course.  Thanks to Derek's phone, we have pictures to upload.  My new broken iPhone was left in the safe. 

Next stop, the Great Wall.  Was VERY impressive.  AMAZING what they built.  Let's just say it was a great workout.  Derek said he regretted running in the morning at the hotel.  Even Brett said his legs were Jello.  In the 95 degrees hot weather (with no shade or breeze), we tackled the hill....but really I'd consider it a mountain.  We thought the wall was graded on nice rolling hills..but really it was a vertical climb with some of the steps 15 inches steep!  Don't mind the million people you had to pass on the way up...those who stopped without warning to catch their breath or to take a photo.  Luckily, the higher you made it, the fewer you had to deal with.  Derek and the kids hoofed it almost to the top.  They were afraid after 45 minutes that they couldn't make it back in time and be late for the bus.  Jen decided to turn back a little earlier as she remembered she's afraid of heights - it's easy to go up, but coming back down, is another thing - keep in mind, the ADA is American...and those stairs would NEVER pass ADA standards.  Everyone made it down safe and sound...and the kids scored some cool Great Wall shirts. 

Playing Where's Waldo...did you find Regan and Brett on the Great Wall Steps in the third photo?  Hint - Brett's wearing his neon yellow shirt and orange Tennessee cap. 

Traffic on Saturday was CRAZY - and we thought NYC traffic was bad!!!!  Evidently the government limits the car traffic during the week but not on the weekend.  It's amazing that there are not more accidents...the mixture of pedestrians, bicycles, motor bikes, and vehicles is a site to see.

We eventually made it to the Summer Palace.  Again, some nice details to tell you later...but was where the Emperor came because summer in Beijing is hot.  We rode on a dragon boat across a man-made lake.  Walked through a nice park. 

Topped off the evening by dining at the Hard Rock Beijing!  Needed a break from Chinese food...and we are only a few days into it.  The hamburger and fries were very satisfying! 

Tomorrow - Derek and I switch from man-to-man defense to zone.  It's GOTCHA Day!  We leave Beijing to fly to Nanchang in the morning.  Will update tomorrow night with pix (courtesy of Derek's phone - still bitter)!