Last day in Beijing

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On our last day of our stay in Beijing we climbed the Great Wall of China. It was amazing to see the mountains and the wall going up them. One of the most interesting aspects of the wall is that the steps are not the same size. This was done in an attempt to confuse invaders on the wall. My group took the more difficult side and made it up the wall in about 50 minutes, and down in 40 minutes. We all feel very accomplished, and feel like we experienced a very important part of history. In all honesty, it was extremely hot and humid. I have never sweat so much in my life, I felt like I jumped into the pool with my clothes on!

After the Great Wall we went to a Jade Factory and had lunch. Jade is a very important stone for the Chinese people. I have a Jade bangle, from my fiance's previous trip to Beijing, and I got myself a jade key-chain.

As it was close to the Great Wall we went to the Ming tombs. There are 13 tombs at the site, however, we went into only one tomb. We were able to see the coffins of the Ming Emperors as well as the thrones of the Emperor and Empress. Something that I saw but did not expect was that people left money on top of the coffins and thrones. I wonder what the real reason behind this is.

Tonight we are having our farewell dinner at the hotel, and then possibly singing karaoke! Tomorrow we are flying to Hong Kong for the next part of our trip.

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