China Trip (Day 2)

The second day we went to the Great Wall.

Here is the Welcome Area and starting point.  We are very high up to start with.  The climb was unreal.  Each step was about 18 inches high and very steep.

We didn't get too far before we spotted these soldiers laughing amongst themselves and looking at Caroline.  They were prodding each other until one finally came up and asked to take a picture with her.   Little did we know that this was just the beginning.

Each one got their picture with Caroline. 
Caroline draws much attention for her eyes.  She always has, but even more so here in Asia.  I always say she has Anime eyes.  

I like this picture because in the end they are just boys around a pretty girl.  Of course, they think she is much older than she is.  She will be 13 this Christmas.  But they think she is about 17.  Same as Japan.  They think Patrick is in his 20s and Caroline is an older teenager.

This is the first level.  I got there and stopped.

I had my share of photo requests...

The view from the first level.

Patrick quit after the first level too.  Second day, another long one, I wasn't going to wear myself out.  Caroline continued to the top with another family.  She did great.
Funny, the father told us he had to finally tell the Chinese picture takers to back off Caroline because he was keen to get to the top.
They made it.  Caroline's legs were shaking when she got back down.

We had beautiful weather the whole trip.  Here we are just sitting around the Welcome Area.

More pictures... Bear with me.  I have to show you how prevalent the picture taking was.
Our tour guides are to the right and smiling.  They finally had to grab Caroline, surround her and lead her to the bus as if she were a rock star.  So funny.

I had a request or two...

Yes!  Lunch.  We were starving from the climb.  We had a great lunch here.  You can see how much food they give us.

After lunch, we went to the Summer Palace.   The Summer Palace roughly translates to "Gardens of Nurturing Harmony."  
The vendors started right away.  One stuck a hat on Caroline.

The palace was the residence of the rulers of China and dates from the 11-12 hundreds.  It is another World Heritage site, like the Forbidden City.  The lake is man made.

On the way back to the bus, we ran into these ladies dancing and singing.

After the Summer Palace, we went to the Pearl Factory to learn about pearls (aka sales pitch)  Ho hum.

From there we headed to the airport toward Xi An.  You can see the familiar haze in the city on the way to the airport.