Aug. 16, 2008
Thursday, August 14th-"Striking the Great Wall"
Good morning everyone! Matt and I hope you've been enjoying our blog. The week has gone by so quickly for the two of us, so we've really been trying to soak up the Chinese culture.
Wednesday evening, Matt and I decided to take our trip to the Great Wall of China. We spoke with the concierge at the front desk of our hotel, who set up the tour. We ended up paying about $60 dollars for the entire trip. The tour included a visit to Ming Tombs, a jade factory, lunch and a trip to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall of China.
On Thursday morning, we woke up about 6:00am. We checked our email, ate breakfast and got ready for our busy day. We were to meet everyone in the hotel lobby at 7:45am to begin our trip. It was there that we met the Boyd family from Minnesota. The family had to be the nicest people we met in the city of Beijing. They were there to see their son compete in the rowing events. Since the main road to our hotel was blocked off, we had to walk to the tour bus, approximately four blocks away. It was there we met a woman named Johnny, who ended up being our tour guide for our excursion. At this time, we met a family from Massachusetts, a couple from Great Britain, and two girls from Mexico.
Our first journey led us to the Ming Tombs. This site is the burial grounds of 13 emperors and empresses of the Ming Dynasty. The building structure looked much like the Forbidden City; however the atmosphere was very tranquil and dreamlike. The tombs looked over the countryside of Beijing. The mountains, the trees and the flowers in the background really made it a peaceful resting place.
From here, we traveled to the jade factory, where we learned how to tell real jade apart from the fake jade. We ALL counted down the minutes until we left. However, we did have a pretty delicious and nutritious Chinese meal.
FINALLY, we left the jade factory and headed to the Great Wall of China. It was about an hour ride from the jade factory. It was here that we witnessed the life of the countryside. We drove past many farms and small villages, making us appreciate our lives in the United States.
We arrived at the Great Wall of China about 1:00pm and headed towards the ticket booth. Johnny gave us a few guidelines before hand, but it was then when it started to pour down rain. We all grabbed ponchos from the local vendors and waited for the rain to slow down. While we waited we saw a number of people running down the hill. Everyone was drenched, some in tears. The downpour was so hard that it was rolling small boulders down the hill.
The rain finally slowed and we were able to make our way to20the entrance of the Great Wall. It was here that we became good friends with a young man named Anders, the twin brother of the Olympic rower. In the rain, the three of us sprinted up the 1,000 stairs to the eighth watch tower. As we came close to the top, many people warned us of the lightning strikes above. Supposedly three people got hit by lightening on the wall. We all became a little nervous, but we were not going to miss our chance to see the historic and beautiful view of China. As we reached the top, we saw two individuals on stretchers being taken down by the Chinese police. It was there, that I was ready to head home...well at least the first 20 minutes of our time on the wall. The whole group, TEAM JOHNNY, took cover in the nearest watch tower and took numerous pictures of the site. We all became very good friends, sharing our once in a life time experience together. Moments later, we found out the individuals struck by lightning, were on their cell phones. One of the rules Johnny had given us moments before we departed ways was to not use cell phones on the wall while it was storming.
The rain and lightning started to clear and the group decided to run to the next tower for a different view of the wall. Again we took photos and headed to the next tower and down the 1,000 steps to our tour bus. The Great Wall of China had to be one of the most beautiful sites we've ever experienced. It's something Matt and I will remember forever. I guess the only advice for a trip to the Great Wall would be to turn your cell phones OFF during a rain storm!!!!
"Team Johnny" made it back to the tour bus safely. We all crashed on our hour and half trip back to our hotels.
Later that evening, we met the Boyd family for a few drinks. We spoke about our travels, our Olympic experience and life. We were very lucky to meet such a wonderful family. I believe these are people we will keep in touch with in the future.
From here, Matt and I headed to our room and relaxed. The day had been quite eventful for the two of us. We both hit our pillows and passed out for the evening. The next morning was going to be spent at the natatorium and we had to be prepared for the gold medals.
Thanks again for reading! Keep checking the website for our last few entries!
Wendy & Matt
