Our tour day

Today we were fortunate enough to do some touring.  We visited the Chinese Great Wall this morning, went to a jade factory around lunchtime, and then visited a traditional Beijing community (Hutong) this afternoon.   The perfect fall weather here made everything especially enjoyable. 

We visited the Badaling section of the Great Wall.  It is the first section of the Great Wall opened to tourists and is the best preserved part.  Some other parts are more natural, untouched, but this section is kept accessible for reasonably easy climbing.  We walked all the way to the top section.  You can read about the Badaling section in the website below. 

http://www.kinabaloo.com/great_wall_beijing.html

Jade carving was interesting to learn about.  There are 3 steps:  outlining or planning the piece; carving; and polishing.  There are many types and colors of jade. 

The hutong tour was Mom's favorite part of today's touring.  We rode a bicycle rickshaw through this area--and Dad took a turn on the rickshaw!  We visited a nice family home and had tea. Big brother made many new friends all day--you can see him with a few here. 

You can read a little more about Beijing hutongs here. 

http://www.chinavista.com/experience/hutong/hutong.html

Having trouble ordering the photos, so you're seeing hutong photos first. 


Tomorrow we will meet to learn more about the paperwork and processes we'll need to do for our new daughter/sister while we are here.