Day 2 - Great Wall and Summer Palace

We went to the Great Wall today and to the Summer Palace. We left at 8 AM.

Here is Jacquie on the bus on our way out this morning.
First stop was the Jade store.














There were some cool carvings and bracelets there. Here is a giant eagle. It was around 16,000 US Dollars, so we only bought 2 of them.
Dad, wouldn't this look great in Colorado?










Here is a group picture from the Great Wall. It was a good climb up, so at least we got some exercise today.

We were approached at various points by many Chinese vendors. They are quite assertive in their approach. After the walk up the Great Wall, we went to a Cloisonne factory - and then ate lunch at a restaurant called The Friendship Shop. Both the Cloisonne factory and the Jade factory were government owned stores - so their prices were non-negotiable.



After lunch, we went to the Summer Palace, which was full of beautiful buildings, gardens and a lake. However, my camera battery died - so I did not get any good pictures there. Jacquie borrowed our friend Lance's camera so he will get us some pictures soon.

Finally, we saw a great Acrobatic troupe tonight at a theater and then went to Pizza Hut for dinner. This was in stark contrast to our lunch which was a more traditional Chinese fare. I liked it but many people did not like the Chinese lunch.


From what I can see on the internet Chicago has a lot of snow and school is closed today.
Have fun kids.

Jacquie and Mickey