Our back to the wall

We are in China.  Man that 13 hour flight is grueling.  Hainan Airlines worked out fine - no undue difficulty on the flight.  About hour nine I was ready to get out. 

Carolyn found an apartment in Beijing through Airbnb.com.  Our hosts, David and Linda, are wonderful people.  David picked us up at the airport, drove us to his rental apartment (on the east side of Beijing - in a suburban neighborhood - meaning high rise apartments), and then introduced us to a dumpling restaurant for dinner.  It was really great - we had 4 kinds of dumplings - we really liked the pork and leek. 

We stopped at a local grocery store, came back to the apartment and I slept like a stone. 

The 13 hour time change is really hard.  We apologize in advance for any strange writing.   

We left early this morning (6:30 AM here) to avoid traffic on the way to the Great Wall.  We stopped at Starbucks in a very high end Beijing neighborhood along the way.   One always wonders what a chain will be like in China.  For example, KFC is nothing like KFC in the States.  Starbucks is EXACTLY THE SAME here in China as it is in KC. 

Our guide David selected a section of the wall that was not a tourist area, at our request.   This area may not even be open to the public.  We left his van in a little village at a family restaurant and chicken farm at the valley floor.  You would not believe the number of chickens.  And the constant crowing.  We climbed up to the wall through the woods - quite a long and steep climb - but with many peach trees along the way - we were eating the peaches as we climbed. Because of the dryness here, the peaches are bite-sized. It was a totally cool thing to just reach out and snack while hiking.  Then we came upon a completely unrestored section of the wall that followed the top of a ridge.  It was steep, it was broken, and it was covered with brush. We spent about 5 hours climbing and playing around up there.  No amount of pictures will do this experience justice.  This section was totally original and totally a blast.

David also brought his 7 year old son along who played with MeiLi.  Although they couldn't speak to each other a whole lot, they were the cutest mini couple I'd ever seen. They played and played and MeiLi was braver on the wall because of QunLun's ability to climb up and down.   

We saw only one other hiker while on the wall.  A 19 year old German physics student named Paul - he had lived in London so his accent is British.  He was really fun and he joined our group for several hours.  He was going to be in China for a month.     

Then we went back to the restaurant / chicken farm for a late lunch.  There's no ambiance quite like an outdoor restaurant with continuously crowing roosters.  The food David ordered was incredible.

On the drive back into town we stopped at one of the Ming Tombs.  There are many of these sites on the north side of Beijing.  This was sort of a mini Forbidden City - a large walled courtyard with several buildings and gates.  The Memory Hall was just like the palaces in the Forbidden City - but in this case you could get inside - very spectacular wood work and architecture.   

We returned to our apartment for a nap.  David and Linda took us out for late dinner at a local restaurant.  When we are inside the Holt / Lotus (adoption agency, travel agency) control, we stay in the safe, presented tourist areas.  During this time we are in a regular area experiencing the real Chinese local culture, where being openly stared at is part of the job!  This part of the trip was about getting over the jet lag, but I wish we had more time here - this is so much fun.