I Have Climbed Up the Great Wall

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Rather than go to the hotel buffet for breakfast today, Clare, Ryan, Ben, and I walked down an alley across the street from the hotel. There were tons of little stands selling food, and even a shop selling birthday cakes. It is Clare's 19th birthday, but she didn't want a cake. We all bought 包子for breakfast. I got a steamed bun with pieces of green onion in it for 5 mao-- 1/16 of a dollar. Ben found a sort of fried burrito with egg and veggies in it. I can't wait to buy this kind of food all the time in Chengdu.

We drove to the Great Wall in the morning. There were two options. Take the right hand path, which was steeper and more crowded. Or take the left hand path, which had much fewer visitors and did not go quite as high. This was an easy choice for Clare, Monique, Cara, and I who took the road less traveled. It went down through a couple of guard tours that smelled of urine. Then we crossed a bridge and began our climb. Some of the steps were so steep that they forced my leg into a right angle when I stepped up onto them. The fan had been a very good investment. At the top we were able to climb up to the top of a guard tower, and shared it with a Chinese family while we took in the view. On the way back we went down a winding path that led to a temple: tree pagodas connected by a covered walk way.

Lunch was at the "FRIENDSHIP STORE." This is a cloissone factory/ tourist showroom, and the largest we have been to yet. For lunch they served us chicken fingers, meatballs, french fries, potstickers, and the usual toned down Chinese food. They also gave each person a mini shotglass, and each table a bottle of 白酒。Wow, that is strong stuff. The PLU philosophy professor was in hog heaven. We took a shot to Clare's birthday, and everyone sang.

Next we visited the Ming tombs, which I was not into, and thus do not really care to write about.

We had the traditional Peking duck for dinner. Greg Johnson was having fun making everyone's wraps for them. He was saving room for his after dinner, dinner. A few of us went to KFC to celebrate Clare's birthday. She is from Minnesota, so she likes comfort food. I had a soft serve ice cream with caramel sauce on top. They also added flavorless jello cubes for some unknown reason. The KFC had two stories for sitting, and was super clean.

We spent most of the day driving. The traffic was so bad that it took 2 1/2 hours to get back to the hotel from the Great Wall. I officially hate the bus. The only good thing about it is the air conditioning. Traffic in China has definitely lost its novelty.

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Photos

Mosque
or something.

Statue
of some guy on a horse.