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After a rough evening due to misconstrued information by our tour guide, Jing, the tour bus was filled with excited about our upcoming fun filled day. Jing had swindled us into spending $39 on a Rickshaw ride and a dinner with a local family the night before. In order to make up for her error she added a few extra stops to our trip for the day - we were going to stop for a picture with the WaterCube and Bird's Nest as well as visit a Traditional Medicine Doctor.
As we climbed on the bus everyone was ready for the Wall of China. Some of us were dressed in our best for pictures. Clearly the Diva Squad (a group of 4 from Texas) were in dresses and heels for the occasion. Of course, the Colombian woman came dressed in her best tummy bearing shirt. Most of us were donning a pair of sneakers ready to trudge our way to the top of Juyongguan Pass! A short bus ride later, "Jing take you to Wall of China" and we had arrived.
It is believed that Juyongguan pass was a military stronghold as early as 770 BC and was linked to the Wall of
Hero Certificate
Erika, Kristen, Jessica, Abby, Jess, and DaveChina during the Northern and Southern Dynasties (386-589). It is considered one of the most scenic areas of Beijing and is listed in the World Heritage Directory.
After a group picture (always awkward) and writing down our names to be engraved on our HERO certificates we were on our way. The six of us (Erika, Jess, Dave, Abby, and Jessica) walked off ahead of most of the group. Quickly Erika and I were left behind, huffing and puffing, swearing to each other we'd get back to working out regularly as soon as our plane touched down in Atlanta. The other four raced to the top. I'm sure Dave, whose complete wardrobe is performance tees from select races, made it up first. Unfortunately it was pretty overcast that day, but we were still able to have a pretty good view considering. As always, Elmo made an appearance!
At the bottom the Diva Squad proclaimed that they had made it up to the top in 30 minutes; in heels, no less. Not sure how that happened when we never saw them on the way up or down. We had a bet going on who got farther, the New Yorkers (a couple who complained about
EVERYTHING) or the Diva Squad. I guess we will never know the truth!
After our trip up, we headed to lunch to have a traditonal fish BBQ! We had two steaming fish, eyes and all, placed in the middle of our table. We all dug in, exhausted after our adventure. After lunch, Erika and I walked up the street so she could get a picture in front of the shopped named "Mexican" which oddly enough turned out to be a watch shop.
After lunch we jumped out of the bus to grab a picture with the Bird's Nest. The Nest blended in with the gray sky so it was a bit hard to see. The overcast weather did not stop the cast of Disney from standing on the bridge for pictures. Who wouldn't want a picture with Mickey or Daffy Duck in front of the famous Olympic Stadium? Bad News, as soon as the picture was snapped, the said character took a sheet of laminated paper out of his glove that said, "I am disabled. You must pay 10 Yun per picture." Although this is only about $1.50 American Dollars, it puts one in quite a predicament. You don't want to be
an ass and refuse to give money to a disabled person but how do I know they are not actually working for the government and the Propaganda Panda didn't put them up to this? I mean, 10 Yun may not seem like a lot but multiply that by every naive tourist that wanders onto that bridge and BAM - they have earned a million dollars - which will obviously be used to pay off the next local of Shanghai who gets booted from his/her apartment (see earlier post on Shanghai).
Other highlights of the day:
A stop the the Jade Museum - Okay not so much a highlight as another way for the Propaganda Panda to collect money from unknowing tourists. They spend 30 minutes convincing you that the Jade at the market (which is MUCH cheaper) is all fake and the only read Jade (obviously much much more expensive) is in front of you at the Jade Museum. Likely story, China, likely story....
Beijing Zoo - PANDAS!!! I have never seen so many Panda's in my life! They were everywhere and so cute! We literally ran into the zoo, and Jing walked us at a rapid speed from Panda to Panda so
Propaganda Panda
Carrots or Chinese Flags? You decide. we could snap a few pictures. She let us stop only long enough to take a Chinese pee brake (AKA do your best to aim for the hole and not pee on yourself!).
After the zoo we headed to the Beijing Street Market where we sampled the local specialities - Silkworm and Scorpions. See my entry on the Last Supper (of China) for the full story on that!
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