Day 8
This day was our last in Beijing. We wanted to see the Great Wall so we joined a tour group at our hotel for this outing.
Our first stop was at the Spirit Way. This is a ornate road leading to a Chinese tomb of a major dignitary (Ming Tombs). The spirit way is lined on both sides by a succession of statues and pillars The statues along the spirit way depict real and mythical animals, as well as civilian and military officials.
Next stop was the Great Wall. We went to the section called Mutianyu, its a lesser known area of the wall. Mutianyu is one of the best-preserved parts of the Great Wall, this section used to serve as the northern barrier defending the capital and the imperial tombs. This section began its consturction in the mid 6th century. It's much older than the other popular tourist spot. The Mutianyu Great Wall has the largest construction scale and best quality among all sections of Great Wall.
We started with a cable car ride up to the starting point of our climb. It was an insane climb. Only 3 kilometers up and then 3 kilometers down, but the pictures do not do justice on showing how steep and uneven it was. It was a long climb, but we made it to the top and it was worth it, absolutely beautiful.
We had some other stops on the tour as well. We went to a Jade Factory. It was the factory where all the Olympic medals were made. We also stopped at Dr. Tea, the largest tea shop in Beijing. And I almost forgot, on our way back to the hotel we saw this little boy peeing in the park. I was laughing historically. A few feet down the road we saw an old man peeing in the street, I did not laugh quite as much...
After this incredibly long day we hopped on a plane and went back to Shanghai. I wish I would of gotten a picture, but I was so tired when we got back, but the amount of taxis at the airport was unbelievable! There was not an end to the line of taxis (at least that I could see).
Day 9
We were exhausted this day, and I had gotten sick. So we spent the day sleeping and playing with the kids. Justin went to the little park that is in the complex that Jerod and Ann live in and got some really cute pictures of the kids.
Day 10
Saturday rolled around again so we got to go on an excursion with Jerod since he did not have to work. He took us to Zhu Jia Jiao. This is a little water town just about an hour away from there home. It was pretty fun, we took a boat ride and then walked back along the streets lined with shops. This was probably the smelliest place we visited on our trip.
Day 11
Justin really wanted to go to the urban planning museum in Peoples Square. So that turned our to be our Sunday outing. The museum was actually really cool. They have a HUGE model of shanghai, and a bunch of other models of the airport and gardens and sewers, and tons of other things. I got a little bored after a while, but Justin was entertained.
After the museum we went on a walk around the French Concession. This was a foreign concession from 1849 until 1946. Despite all the re development in Shanghai, this section has a very distinct character. There is also a very pretty park, Fuxing Park, in the middle of the concession.
Day 12
Our fist stop of the day was the Jade Buddha Temple. This temple was a lot more crowded then the other temple we visited. The first one we visted had much more of a temple feeling to it, to the point where we felt awkward being there, but the Jade Buddha temple was not as awkward, there were still worshipers, but it was much more touristy.
We then went to the Bund again, but this time at night. It was much more beautiful and interesting at night. We took a boat cruise on the Huangpu River and got some really neat pictures. This was probably one of my favorite things that we got to do.
Day 13
This was our last real day to do anything in Shanghai, but we were really tired after being out late the night before. We decided to go to the Zoo. The Shanghai Zoo is extremely close to Jerod and Ann's house. Also on the plus side it was really cheap! about 5 US dollars to get in.
We saw lots of fun animals, like pandas, cause you cannot go to China and not see a panda! They also had dogs at the zoo. It was actually really sad to see the dogs in the cages. But all in all it was a fun trip to the zoo.
Day 14
Last day! We went to the airport pretty early, and I was very ready to go home. We flew to LA, luckily the flight was a lot shorted thanks to tail winds. LA's airport is under construction so that was kind of a pain. But for all the (new) 90210 fans, I swear I saw Navid (Michael Steger) getting on our plane to SLC. But I don't know if it really was or not.
And finally, we made it home!! Yea!
Thanks for reading about our trip!
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