Saturday, July 16 in Beijing

In spite of being exhausted, we woke up at 6am - hard to make that time change!  We met Lee around 8 and headed out for the day.  First we visited a jade factory where they carve and sell jade.  (Jennifer, Paul got your dragon!)  Then we headed out to the Great Wall.  It is an incredible site!  The mass of humanity climbing the stairs is equally incredible.  The steps are very steep and extermely uneven but well worth the work - the view from one watch tower we climbed is fantastic as you can tell from the picture!  After a traditional chinese lunch near the wall, we headed back to Beijing to visit the Forbidden City.  The Forbidden City is across the street from Tiananmen Square.  Big red signs announce the 90th birthday of the Communist Party in the square.  The Forbidden City (home of the emperors, forbidden access to the commoners) is huge, with many connected intricate buildings - very impressive sight.  The picture taken was outside the first of two gates to the city.  We were celebrities for the day - several people asked to have their picture taken with us (maybe something to do with how Paul tower over everyone here?)  However, Paul was probably most impressed by the driving though - he who hesitates is lost and our driver did not hesitate much!  Then a quiet night at the hotel (can you believe we went to bed at 8??)