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Published: April 15th 2009
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We had a stop at a jade factory and the ladies bought an obscene amount of jewellery but T and me, not being big shoppers, amused ourselves by practicing converting the price of all this stuff from yuan, repeatedly stating “holy crap, that’s as much as a trip” and walking away shaking our heads. To each his own, but my own would opt for airfare to India or a road trip back home rather than a pair of earrings. Well, I say that now, but if someone wants to gift them to me, I’d take the earrings right quick. Shiny things are pretty.
Saw part of the Ming Tombs area and walked down the Sacred Path which is a long walkway with statues lining it meant to protect the Ming Emperors’ final resting places. Being a semi-sacred site, I hesitate to point out this hilarious oops but only for a second ‘cuz this cracked me up…it’s supposed to read “prone horse”.
We continued on to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. This section is further out of the city than the more popular Badaling section, but it’s worth the extra drive out. It’s less crowded and it’s one
of the best preserved sections of the wall. To get there, there is a small hike up a steep cobblestone road that is lined with vendors of every cheap souvenir item ever made, followed by a cable car ride up the mountain. It’s almost all steps and some of them are crazy steep but it was great fun making our way along. It’s possible I took a thousand pictures, which in reviewing them I now admit may be a tad excessive since the wall looks the same in every one (but I absolutely need every single picture, I swear I do).
We had a long-ish drive back and trying to fit in a show in the evening so it meant stopping to feed the brood in between. The guide recommended a restaurant in an as yet unexplored neighbourhood and since yet another marathon eating experience was so far off what T and I were up for, the lure of a new neighbourhood won out and we opted to split off from the group to take a look around instead. The tour guide seemed a little nervous about us wandering off which probably had the opposite effect he was hoping
The Great Wall
Mutianyu section for ‘cuz all it did was make us want to see what was out there. He made us memorize the landmarks around us (good practice in hindsight since the streets are freaking confusing) and said please stick together and that he wouldn’t walk around because he’d get lost. In all honesty, the neighbourhood was perfectly fine except for a few oddly out of place shops that had only a sofa in the front window adorned with a scantily dressed young woman laying across it with signs out front that read “Men’s Fitness Centre” or “Body and Foot Massage”. Since I’ve never actually seen a men’s gym that was 8x8 feet I made the cynical assumption that it was a whole other kind of business (I mean, really - obviously they sell sofas) but I’m still giving myself street cred points for returning to the group unscathed.
Checked out a lot of other stuff in Beijing and did a lot of walking around. It’s an amazing city, we just loved it like crazy. The night market held some tasty treats and I do admit to licking the scorpion, T bit into it, but neither could go through with actually chewing
Mmmmm, scorpion
T taking a taste! it (and I‘ve eaten some pretty weird stuff in my day, but hells no, I wasn‘t about to floss scorpion legs out of my teeth). We brought them back to the hotel and Big Daddy ate two without blinking. The man has a gullet made of iron and an amazing capacity to eat anything if you tell him it’s a snack. They apparently taste like super crispy deep fried chicken skin. Um, yeah, non merci.
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Cricket around the world
Christine Lair
Picture perfect?!
Oh nooooooooooo!!! What happened to the pictures??? We can't see them... and because I can't understand the "oops" thing, I won't be able to sleep tonight! ;) Seriously, it's awesome that you two guys take free time by yourselves to go and explore the city! So many people are afraid of the unknown - they never recommend going anywhere alone because it is "dangerous"... blah blah blah... but I certainly know that it's probably the best times you'll have! And Lynne... what's a scorpion leg hair or two between your teeth? I'm sooooo disappointed... lol Say hi to everybody for me and tell T that Taco is doing great! :p Ciao, Chris