Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Wednesday, May 29, 2019: Day 3: Beijing (京); Great Wall of China; Jade; Ming Tombs; Peking Duck

Early start today, but we both slept well for the first time since our arrival. Yesterday was exhausting and the most strenuous (according to Ray) that we will endure on the tour. We had set the alarm for 5:30 am with breakfast at 6:00 am and a departure at 7:00 am. We were both up and about by 5:00 and by 5:30, we were waiting for the restaurant to open.

We left the hotel at 7:00 am. It was a 90 minute drive to the Badaling Great Wall.






We took the tram from the base of the valley up to the wall.




From where the tram dropped us off, there was still a pretty good walk up to the elevation of the wall. While there were very few people in the section we started, there were quite a few along the wall in the distance. We were very lucky with the weather being excellent and the crowds yet to develop.































You could only go so far in one direction. There are many parts of the 10,000 km wall that are still not restored and not open to the public.










Before taking the tram down, I found my pandas for mom on the Great Wall.


We next arrived at the Run Ze Jade-Garden for a tour of their jade workshops, lunch and jade shopping.

When we arrived, all the workers were off to lunch.






We were given an introductory class in jade and it was very interesting.



Lunch again was a lazy Susan with a wide variety of dishes. I declined the beer today, but the food was again, delicious.




After lunch, we had about 30 minutes to roam through their huge shop. There were many...many employees ready to help us buy anything, and everything.

Both Laura and I ended up with a lucky jade ball.


I also got a jade dragon with a pearl in its mouth.




I bought Laura a silver six-color Jadeite necklace.



A business card from the establishment.


Before we left, we went back to the work shop to see if anything was happening. Not much, but some of the workers had returned from lunch.



Then we were off to visit the Ming Tombs.








We walked the one-half mile sacred path.






High thresholds to discourage demons 
As we drove back to the hotel, we passed through the area of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games held in Beijing.


Watch Towers
Swimming arena



Bird Nest
 Beijing is really a very beautiful city.



City moat
 We arrived at the hotel and had a drink in the bar before heading up to the room to get cleaned up for the Peking Duck dinner tonight.


Tonight we meet in the lobby at 6:30 pm for the Peking Duck dinner. Then we will come back to pack. The Peking Duck Dinner was great. It was also a lot of food. Hua's Restaurant is where we ate lunch yesterday. Obviously, they have some kind of deal with Viking.




Only about 30% of the duck meat is good enough to reach the dining table. The method of serving the duck consists of using a very thin "pancake" to assemble a wrap with various additions, cucumbers, onions, pickled beets, bean sprouts, etc.






Tomorrow morning we finish our visit to Beijing with a Rickshaw ride through the old part of town and visit to a local home. We will then be issued a boxed lunch and go to the airport for a 90 minute flight to Xi'an (西安) where, on Day 5, we will meet the Terra Cotta Warriors.

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