I climbed the Great Wall of China!

Let me start off by saying... thank you to everyone that has been following my travel experience to China. I LOVE comments as it makes me feel like someone out there somewhere is listening. I appreciate you taking time out to find out what I am up to, our check out my work.

Today was our second day with our private tour. By the way, private tours are the way to go. I couldn't imagine sitting on a huge bus with 50 hot and sweaty strangers, and trying to budge your way to the front to hear about the history of each site. Our experience has been great thus far. We began our tour at the copper factory where they HAND MAKE copper vases, statues and more. The coolest part of the tour was that we got to see, step by step, how they were made. As we walked through the halls, I peered in each doorway to take in my entire surroundings. I felt like I was in an old, old building that would be some kind of museum in the U.S. With my camera attached to my hip, I photographed almost every step I took as each one got more interesting. Everywhere I turned I found something new to capture.

There are many steps in the process of making each piece. What an experience to be able to walk through and watch them paint these copper pieces.


As we made our way into our next stop at the Ming Tombs we t0 make sure to follow certain instructions according to the Chinese superstitions. In order to let the past emperors that are buried here know that we were just paying a visit, we had to pass through a certain gate stepping with our right foot first and saying, "Hello, we are just here for a visit". This ensured that we would not be staying there. (Men had to step in with their left foot) Before we left, we had to walk through the same gate, the same way and say goodbye. We also had to make sure that we did not take any bad spirits with us on our way out. To get rid of them before we passed the gate, we could stomp our feet or do a little dance. We danced as a group :)
Stairs to heaven?

Next stop was the great wall. Nothing needs to be said except for breath taking.
I climbed to the top! Ok... so I took a cable ride up most of the way.. but I did climb a ton of stairs and flat slopes that were at a unreal angle. 
We finished the night with a chinese acrobat show. This was a quick shot I took before they told me not to take any pictures. I love these types of shows. Not quite Cirque de Soliel.. but it was a very entertaining show.
Tomorrow will be another shopping day and track at night. Thanks for tuning into "Jamie in Beijing!" :)