The Great Wall of Beijing

So, the great wall really is as amazing as everyone has said. I totally get that 7 wonders of the world thing...
We were lucky because today was a Monday and there were few crowds at Mutianyu part of the wall. To add to the excitement, we had a choice of a gondola up or a ski tow up. We took the ski tow up, enjoyed a sunny lunch and much walking on the wall. (Can you see that atypical blue sky over Beijing??) Magic! Finally, we took toboggans down, making a great day even better. I kept saying to myself, "I can't believe I am here, I can't believe I am here....." as Vic asked me,"Did you ever think you would be here?"

Silly scenes in Beijing

The kids inside of our hutong. What's with Luca?After lunch at Bei Luo restaurant. We got great food and a Mandarin lesson.
Cold!!! Renata models her new panda hat!!
Chloe and our clan being nutty!!

Hutong Hotel in Beijing

Here is Vic entering our hotel in the hutong in Beijing.
The hutongs which are connected traditional buildings were first built in the Tang Dynasty in the 700's. They were added onto in all of the subsequent dynasties and dramatically expanded during the last Qing Dynasty two hundred years ago. The reason I am so taken with these neighborhoods is because they were where the regular folks lived around the Forbidden City. So families who wanted their boys to have a better life first made them eunuchs (ouch!!) and then sent them up to the royal empire of the Forbidden City.

Here am I getting ready for the day in our hotel. The bathroom is tiny, but functional-- referred to by expats here at "shit, shower, and shave". The other great part of the hutongs is how they are adapted to and lived in now. Here are Marie Laure, Luca and I enjoying a more commercialized section of the neighborhood.
The crowds, as all over China, are massive. Victor shot this photo because he liked the dancing Pooh balloon over the sea of Beijingers.
Here are construction workers fixing the roof...