Beijing - Day 1

All our bags were packed - ready to go - leaving on a jet plane! 

It was a looooong flight! 

11 hours and 4 minutes in the air. 

Plus taxi time

Plus a two hour ground delay at the gate in LA

But so worth it! 

We checked into our hotel, ran out to eat and hit the sack! An early morning wake up call for breakfast - this was one happy girl! 

Then into the van to the Great Wall! 

We went to the Mutianyu section - because ....ski lift up! 

We got there early - and there was no one on the wall! It was almost surreal - we literally had the wall to ourselves for the first hour! The girls were amazed and excited and a bit overwhelmed! 

The views in every direction were stunning - this section of the wall was built about 600 years ago. The restoration has been done with original materials, so it is very authentic. 

We quickly realized why the ski lift up - the inclines and the step on the wall were TOUGH! 

It would not be China without multiple opportunities even on the Great Wall to separate  tourists from their money. This was money well spent....

After the ski lift ride up, and two miles of vigorous up and down hiking...tobogganing down! 

The resort area in Mutainyu is lovely - it was getting crowded when we left, but there was something profound in being on that wall by ourselves. 

When we left, we traveled about 5 km and stopped at a guest house for lunch. We enjoyed the most amazing country style meal - this girl is beyond happy to be enjoying "real" Chinese food (her words - not mine!) 

An unexpected stop on our way - we saw roadside fruit stands on the way in, and asked to stop to get cherries on the way out. We pulled into a stand, the driver got us out the the van, the older Chinese lady running the stand handed us baskets and out guide said "go get cherries"! 

So they did! 

Then onto the summer palace! It is a beautiful place filled with history. Our guide was amazing and really pressed into all the girls to teach them about the history of their birth land. 

Long about 3:00, we were all starting to drag a bit, so we shook it up with a boat tour - the girls loved it! 

The best views are often from the water! 

The corridor at the summer palace is 1/2  mile long, with amazing detailed artwork along the entire thing

We had about 45 minutes between the end of the summer palace and our dinner engagement so we added a stop at the Olympic park and the girls got to see "The Bird's Nest" up close. Last time I was in Beijing, it was 12 degrees and I stayed on the bus - so it was my first time too! It really is magnificent! 

Our last and maybe sweetest stop of the day was dinner - a traditional Peking duck dinner! 

While the food was beyond amazing, what made this dinner so very sweet was that we shared it with a former classmate of Becky's! This family was in the states last spring on furlough, and Becky and Kira became fast friends. It was one of Becky's biggest "wants" that when we came to Beijing, she see Kira - so we did! 

We were exhausted at the end - but in the very best way!