The Great Wall

Our guide, 'Jack Wallace' picked us up and took us to Badaling. (Many Chinese take western names to make it easier for their clients to say their names. He took his surname from Braveheart.) Actually, guide is not adequate for describing him. Guide-extraordinaire is more fitting. He was informative, easy to understand, and genuinely concerned about us and our experience. He had a narrative that took us all of the way to Badaling. He purchased our tickets, gave us a cell phone and told us to enjoy ourselves. We did! The 'easy' way, to the right was crowded as hell so I made an executive decision and we went left. Harder for sure but less crowded and imho, the right call.

Debbie and Bernie made the first tower while I made three. The climb was hard, hard, hard, and coming down was hard, hard, hard. The views and the experience were worth it. We have walked on the Champs Elysses, the streets of London and Rome, and all over Europe but this wall equals them all, again imho.

Two of these were on Instagram as a way of letting our girls know what we had seen.

When I rejoined them, it turned out that they had become celebrities, posing for pictures with the locals. Me - one!

Some quick shopping and Jack delivered us to a Cloisonné Factory for lunch. Restaurants, for obvious reasons, are connected to tourist attractions. HOWEVER, no sales pitch, and we watched the finishing process. In 1946, my father made several trips to Shanghai courtesy of the United States Navy and I have several of his Chinese souvenirs, including two cloisonné vases.

After that we asked to go to the Jade factory. We were willing to spend a buck or two and Debbie and Bernie got very nice pieces, and Heather got an elephant.

From there Jack took us to the Olympic sites where Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt rose to prominence, the Water Cube, and the Bird's Nest. we went home by way of the Hutong, all that remains of 'old' China in Beijing. A quick nap, McDonald's (I know but sometimes you have to eat western) and back to the markets and more dancing at the cathedral.