Beautiful weather for this adventure to the Great Wall! Long bus ride to get there. One beautiful thing I notice, as we ride on the bus is how the electric wires have stars on them (well, they may be metal connectors...but they look just like dark stars to me) We did the GREAT WALL in style - Ski Lift Up and Tobaggon ride down! WHEEEE! I kept reminding myself to be present because I just could not believe I was actually walking there along The Great Wall of China that I had taught about for so many years! I bought my first souvenirs here.. I am attaching photos.

What an amazing experience! I am wearing my "I climbed up the Great Wall" t-shirt right now. I can't believe that I was walking the wall a few weeks ago. It feels like a wonderful dream. I took about 1500 pictures documenting the trip, so I can't wait to sort them for use in the classroom and to share with fellow teachers.
edited by ccable on 8/6/2012

I had heard people rave about Chinese Acrobatic shows so when we were taken on our second evening in Beijing to a show I was more than ecstatic. There are many highlights from that night. One in particular, was when the motorcyclist began to ride inside a giant oval shaped cage and as time passed more cyclists were added to the cage. My heart was thumping because in the U.S. I'm not sure this would be permitted or be legal for that matter. It was a fantastic way to end an eventful day.

What an exciting day! The morning started off great with so many food from which to choose for breakfast. I loved the Dim sum, dragon fruit, and especially the little pieces of churro-like bread. Yummy. Our tour guide Jean gave us an interesting lesson on speaking Chinese. Four different ways to say "ma" which mean four entirely different words. Confusing, but I'd love to take some Chinese lessons. I found out that Chinese is taught at Thousand Oaks High School on Saturday mornings. I will look into that.
Wow. China has 500 million internet users!
Oh, my gosh! Big day. Off to the Great Wall of China, the longest defensive wall ever. 2,200 miles long. Jean told us the sad tale of Mung Jung Nyu, the newlywed whose husband was called away to work on the wall and never returned. Her tears opened the wall where she found his bones.
The ride up to the wall was very scary. Ben was up in front, and when he let go of the safety bar on his seat, my stomach dropped. I think my knuckles were white by the time I got off.
Once setting foot on the wall, the question was, "Which way to go?" Off to the right I went with Joe, Harue, Ben, Steven, Eddie, and Gustavo. That was the hard way because some parts were very steep. That's okay because I wanted to see the original wall, the real deal. I was so excited. As I huffed and puffed my way up, a Chinese man said to me, "Jai yo." (sp?) I learned he was encouraging me to not give on. Step on the pedal. Keep going. Yay. I did.
At the last watch tower, I climbed over the side and peeked into the cracks. I wanted to find see some human remains from ancient times; those who had died and been tossed into the fill. Alas, I could not find Mung Jung Nyu's husband's bones.
Back up on the wall, the final sign read, "No admittance." Hmmm, bummer. Then I heard that Clay and "the boys" had ventured on, so I did too. Wow. Lots of over-growth, but what a view. Some great photo opportunity.
The ride back down the hill was the toboggan ride. The thought of it scared me, but it was actually fun.
A quick look at the vendors for a t-shirt and some fans.
Definitely a high-light day!