Great Wall/Jade Factory in Beijing

Met in the lobby at 8:30 for our tour today.  High temperature was 55F and windy. We were headed to the Great Wall.  It is about an hour drive from our hotel.  Saw lots of interesting things on the way to the Great Wall.  Most interesting was we got to see were the Olympics were held.  Saw the bird’s nest where the torch was, also saw the aquatic center, Olympic park, and the tennis facility.  All of these things were really cool to see up close!  Lots of interesting architecture also.  We stopped by a Jade factory before we went to the Great Wall. We got to see how they carve the Jade and how they polish it.  Our tour guide also showed us how to tell if it was fake or not. Beautiful jewelry and it was HUGE!!  When we were finished shopping there was a table to sit and wait for the rest of the group and they had free hot tea at the table.  Once everyone was finished shopping, we were back on the road to the Great Wall.  It was very mountainous.  
    Once we arrived at the Great Wall we started our journey up!! It was windy and cold there and could not see very far because of the sand that was blowing around.   Could not believe how steep it was!!  Jason and I only made it to the first lookout tower.   The youngest member of the group that went with us and her mom made it all the way to the third tower.  I have no idea how they did it!  Jason got an ice cream bar when we got back to the bottom.  There were also souvenir shops at the bottom.  When we got back in the van to leave, we all had sand in our mouths and when we wiped off our faces they were brown. We spent an hour and a half at the Great Wall it is still almost surreal that we are really in China.
   After the Great Wall we headed to a place called The Friendship Shop.  There were tons of vendors inside and we also had a very traditional Chinese lunch while we were there.  Tried lots of different foods and liked almost all of them.  After we ate we spent a little time looking at the vendors then we all decided not to go to the park. On the way back to the hotel they took us by the CCCWA this is where all of our paperwork had to go to be approved. Everyone is getting really excited about getting their children and we all just wanted an evening to relax and get some sleep before that happens!  
   Jason and I have packed up our things and are going to go spend some time in the hot tub.  We leave this hotel at 10:00 tomorrow morning to fly to Andrew’s province.  Cannot believe that we are going to be parents on Monday!!

Thanks for the prayers and please continue to pray for an easy transition for Andrew.