Greetings from Beijing!

Hi all,

Well, we made it to Beijing. It felt like a long trip (which doesn't bode well for the flight from Beijing to Vancouver). Before we headed to the airport in Guangzhou, we needed to get B's passport. We went to the Security Office and everything went off without a hitch. Below is a picture of us with the Security Office guy who has been looking out for us this week. Both times we had to go to the Security office he spotted us in the lobby (he was the guy who originally took our photo when we first received B) and was ready and waiting for us. That was great since yesterday when we showed up at the Security office, and had taxis outside waiting to take us to the airport, there had to be close to 100 people waiting in the lobby. He spotted us though, came and got us and took us right to a window for B's photo. Then he handed us the passport and that was that. I have a feeling that had it not been for this guy moving things along, we wouldn't have been able to finish all the paperwork by the time we needed to.




















Of course because everything went so smoothly we made it to the airport the suggested two hours before our flight... only to discover that our flight to Beijing was delayed by 1.5 hours. So, we spent a fair amount of time in the airport, before boarding our plane (which was then further delayed by half an hour). We landed in Beijing at 10:30 p.m. And waiting to greet us were J&L (my brother and sister-in-law). So they got to be the first to meet B...

(The bear was a gift to B from J&L - it walks and makes a lot of noise (music), which B loves.)








B was still wide awake when we landed in Beijing and he had only napped about half an hour earlier that day in the backseat of a taxi. But amazingly he was in a very good mood. He finally fell asleep at about midnight, just before we arrived at our hotel. We carried him into the hotel and put him in the crib waiting there, which was great until about an hour later when he woke up, and I guess didn't know where he was. He got a bit upset. :-) He slept the rest of the night in the king sized bed with DoT and I.

Today we headed out to the Great Wall. Of course we'd already been to the Wall the last time we were here, but it truly is worth the repeat visit. It's really something to see. This time we visited a different section of the Wall (the JuYong Pass). Unfortunately it was a hazy day so we didn't get any great photos. Here are a couple though...

As you can see from the ice on the lake, it is still a bit cold here in Beijing (despite the fact that the Spring Festival starts next week). The temperature here today was somewhere around -5 degrees -- I know.. nothing like the temperature in Ottawa these days.











This picture I thought showed the incline of the steps pretty well. Or at least as well as any of our photos. I have a feeling my leg muscles may be complaining tomorrow.






According to our guide Lily, this sign says that if you haven't been on the Great Wall, you're not a real man.
















After the visit to the Great Wall, we visited a jade store, saw a couple of sculptors creating pieces from jade, learned how to tell real jade from glass or fake jade (although I think I'd need to have both the real and the fake together to compare, and know ahead of time that one was fake and the other real, before I could tell), and spent a lot of money. :-) Here are a couple of photos from there...



















These pictures really don't do it justice... there are some truly amazing pieces here.

In a few minutes we will be heading out to dinner with J&L, and then hope to have an early night since I think we could all use some sleep. Tomorrow, we spend more money (probably)... we're heading to the "Dirt Market".

k.

P.S. Our hotel in Beijing is beautiful.