The Great Wall

On Monday we woke up to dreary weather. It was raining in Beijing and it looked like our trip to the wall was going to be quite wet. We didn't let a little rain get us down and we headed to the wall for a day of hiking. We went to Mutianyu because it is my favorite place by Beijing to see the wall plus it doesn't hurt that there is a fabulous restaurant in the Mutianyu Village.

Here are some snapshots of our hike.



Gemma and Dad enjoying their first trip to the Wall.







You can tell that the day we were at the Wall there was quite a lot of pollution in the air. The fall colors were quite beautiful though.

Gemma really enjoyed her visit to the Wall. Here she is posing for one of the many photos I took of her that day.

Here is my Dad with a group of ladies.

They returned the favor and took a picture of the three of us.

My favorite picture of the day.

We had the pleasure of taking the toboggan to the bottom of the Wall. Gemma was a bit nervous about going down this way, but we were able to go together. I have never heard Gemma laugh so hard! I thought I would share the video so you can hear for yourselves! (Luckily they just allowed YouTube back in China!)

Gemma and her fan club! The one on the right was the one we almost rear ended.

Gemma sleeping after her hike.

When we returned from the Wall we did a little more shopping at the Silk Market. We were also able to go see the Chinese acrobats at the Chaoyang Theatre. Unfortunately both my Dad and I forgot our cameras, so no pictures. It was the highlight of Gemma's trip to Beijing and I now think she wants to be an acrobat!

Mutianyu - The Great Wall of China

On Monday we rose early and headed out to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. The last time I had went to the wall we went to Badaling which is much more touristy and crowded. This time our friend Reed gave us some tips and pretty much planned our itinerary including driver! The other exciting part of our itinerary was that we were able to see the house that Bruce and Reed purchased in a village by the Great Wall! The house is under construction and they are adding a couple of rooms. Here are a few of the pictures of the house.



Here is a picture of the front corner of the house. I believe this is where the main entrance to the house will be.




This was the old main entrance, but they are keeping it and it will be part of the hallway.



This is a view of the Great Wall from the living room they are adding on.



This will be the master bedroom and loft area.

I was unable to get good pictures of the inside of the existing house. There will be a large kitchen, a guest room, and a guest bathroom in that area. It will be gorgeous when it is completed! I hope that I will be invited back to see the final product!

After our visit to the house we headed to The Schoolhouse which is owned by an American man who has lived in China for 22 years. He owns a house in the village of Mutianyu and is the person that has negotiated the house for Bruce and Reed. In the village he lives in there are many foreigners who also renovated houses. He bought an old schoolhouse and renovated it into a restaurant, a glass art studio, and a country store. Here are a few pictures from The Schoolhouse.





Here is where the kitchen located along with some meeting rooms and restrooms.



The glass studio and gift shop is located downstairs. While the restaurant is located on the upstairs patio.



Here was the view from our table at lunch.

After lunch we headed to the wall for some sightseeing. We were very fortunate to have really great weather for our day which was great for our views. We decided to take the ski lift up to the top and take the toboggan ride down to the bottom. I have to say it was much more impressive at this area of the wall then at Badaling. There wasn't as many tourists and the hike seemed to be much safer Here are some of our snapshots from our hike.

Brian and I posing at The Wall.

I tried to take pictures of Brian going down on the toboggan, but he went too quickly so I decided I would video the ride down. I have to say it was extremely entertaining.