7/19 Beijing - Jade and the Great Wall

Today, our bus takes us to the Jade Factory for a tour of jade, how it is polished and the types of jade China has. It is a beautiful stone and there are very skilled craftsmen.  After our tour we have shopping time with a special offer just for our group, 30% off.  We have our own "personal" assistant following us around as we shop.  (Insert need for personal space here.)

Once our shopping time was done we went to the Juyongguan Pass of the Great Wall.  On our 2 previous trips we visited the Badaling Pass, but according to our guide that part is too busy because that's where the locals visit and it's summer break.

The Juyongguan Pass is incredibly steep - we're talking 85° Steep.  It was hard!  Really hard.  Megan made it 1/2 way to tower 2, Kyle to tower 2, Natalee made it to tower 3 and Mom (me) made it to tower 1.  That was a huge accomplishment for me as I don't like heights and am probably not in the best of shape.  It was awesome though! I took my time and had several selfies with people along the way.  I wonder who in the world (India, Belgium, China) has my photo. When I made it to the tour, I rested for awhile.  Megan was on her way down with another family from our group and was shocked that I was there.  😄  Natalee made it to tower 3 and could have kept going except she was running out of time.  The girls seemed to enjoy this better than yesterday.

Back on the bus and our next stop is the Friendship Store and lunch.  Boy are we all sweaty and dirty, but at least everyone else is too.  Shopping wasn't too bad this time, much less pushy.  I've enjoyed watching my girls experience their birth country and am looking forward to the next several days.  Just observing them is fun too.

After shopping, our driver takes us past the Olympic Village, Bird Nest and Water Cube.  They do use these venues for other sporting events.  Megan went swimming with her friend this afternoon while Kyle took Natalee to hang out with the friends she's made.  They ended up getting some ice cream too.  We're all tired so after some snacks and ramen and packing for our next flight, we went to bed.

(Photos will be added later, device is not working properly to add pics.  Sorry.)