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My day started out at 730am and today my guide was the owner of the company. Vivie was lots of fun and full of great stories. She also just had a baby 3 months and has a nine year old so she was full of stories about her children. Her baby had been crying lots and she had a lady in her home village burn some incense to see what was wrong with baby. Turns out baby had been scared by a ghost and also had some tummy troubles. I am learning there are lots of superstitions.
On with the day. We drove out to the Mutianyu Great Wall which is the second section away from the city and less busy. Once there I decided to take the chairlift up rather than the cable car as Vivie advised it would be less busy. This morning was quite smoggy, much different than yesterday and the beautiful sunny day! Vivie told me there is a saying, good weather in Beijing lasts no more than three days! Just my luck the the weather had been clear for 3 days! Vivie came up with me to take a few pictures. She then left and I walked from tower 6-14 and then back. I did not manage my time very well, I had also planned to hike from 6-1 but I ran out of time. Regardless it was all very amazing! There were many stairs climbed and descended. A slight hint of autumn colors in the hills. I patiently waited for photo opportunities with no one in it. Thankfully I got a few! When I got to tower 14 where the cable car arrives the amount of people on the wall grew significantly so I turned around. After spending 2 hours on the Wall I took the slide down to the entrance way. A little wind in the hair is good for the soul!
Next stop was the Summer Palace. The Summer Palace is the largest imperial garden in China and also has the longest corridor. I wandered through the gardens and climbed up to the Tower of Buhdist Incense. The Emperor built a lake as a birthday present for his mother and with the dirt from the lake they made a hill which the Tower of Buddhist Incense sits.
After visiting the Summer Palace Vivie took me to a small shop to pick up some fruit and snacks for my train ride to Xi’an. No markets near my hotel, just lots of touristy shops!
Vivie recommended a place near my hotel to go for Peking Roast Duck. I found Peking Chamber and as most of my restaurant experiences begin in that awkward yes a table just for one.... then looks of dismay and what do we do with her?? Eating china is very much a social/family experience with shared dishes. So I sat down and orders my half duck, pancake wraps and some fixings as the very nice waiter recommend. He even then showed me how to eat the duck in these wraps. It was delicious!
I am getting used to the many stares I get, I am referred to as foreigner. I am quite surprised at how many looks I get. Not sure if they are just not used to foreigners being alone.
Well Beijing has not disappointed. I had a list of things I wanted to do and I was able to complete the list. If to Xi’an tomorrow on the bullet train!
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