Beijing...Part Four

There's been a delay in getting the last part of our adventure up as I've been sick. The girls have been sick. But we're all getting back on track slowly. It's been a rather FUN week !!!

One of the highlights for Paul and I was going to the Great Wall. I never thought in a million years I'd get to see it let alone stand on it. It truly was an amazing moment and so pleased that we were able to do it together and with the girls. Not that they really appreciated it but there are photos (quite a few actually) of proof that they were there.....

There are 4 areas of the wall that have been restored so that you can visit and walk on them. We didn't go to the most popular one, Badaling, but went instead to Mutianyu. This was about an hour and a half drive out of Beijing. We went up on the Weds and it wasn't a great day for long distance viewing as was rather hazy BUT it was still amazing. This section of the wall wasn't that busy and it's a 20-min hike up (and I mean UP) to the wall. We didn't do that we got the cable car instead, which the girls LOVED !! According to our guide this is one of the oldest restored sections of the wall and is thought to have been built over 500 years ago !! CRAZY !!

We decided that it would be better for us to go on a private tour as opposed to an organised tour. It meant that we were the ones in charge and were able to dictate times etc especially when the girls had had enough. Was the best thing we did !!!

Our very first view of the Great Wall

Walking through the markets to the cable car


Our first glimpse of the Great Wall from the cable car


The Great Wall of China - a little part of it anyway !

Family Shot

Standing in front of the sign

On the wall itself

The view on the wall from the other direction. If you look closely on top of the hill you can see the guard towers. Apparently the distance between each guard tower is the distance an arrow could have been shot.


It really was such an amazing feeling to experience. It was the same feeling as when I saw the pyramids in Egypt for the first time. Very fortunate to have been able to see 2 of the Great wonders of the world !!

Our last day saw us with abit of time before our flight. So we spent some time wandering around the Hutongs. This type of housing is becoming a part of Beijing's past as many of them are getting knocked down and redeveloped. The hutongs are the alleyways and off them are many courtyards with the housing being built around them. It was so quiet wandering around here that you really forgot that you were in a huge, busy city. This took us into Beihai Park which was amazing to walk around and is one of Beijing's oldest imperial gardens - it was HUGE and it is situated beside a rather large lake. Apparently this lake freezes in winter and you can skate on it.

In Houhai before wandering around the hutongs


There's one of these everywhere !! Victoria spotted it and yelled "Coffee Shop". Sad that a 2 year old recognises the Starbucks logo !! Funnily enough at the Great Wall where we were there was no Starbucks but rather a Subway. I didn't get a picture of that though - it was just opened !!


The Hutongs


Beihai Park

No Hannah as she refused to have her photo taken. She'd had enough of everyone else taking her photo !!

This was taken of the girls in the lounge at the airport while we waited for our flight. The reason I've included is that there's story with regards to the pink bag that is on the chair behind Victoria, which contains her Winnie-the-Pooh. We were in abit of a hurry to leave the lounge as we realised that our plane was boarding and it was abit of a hike from the lounge to the gate. We were rather lucky as we were part of the last ones to board the plane !! We got on and I started getting the girls settled. The girls and I were sitting in 3 seats and Paul was behind us and I realised that Victoria's bag wasn't with us. Panic set in as you can imagine and I told Paul what we'd done - left her bag with Winnie-the-Pooh inside it, behind in the lounge. Unfortuanately for me, Hannah was sitting beside me and heard what I said. Thankfully Victoria didn't !!! So here I am trying to explain to Hannah that we hadn't forgotten Victoria's bag it had gone underneath the plane with the buggy -and then she told me that wasn't a good idea as Victoria would want it. Sure enough, the question was asked where's my bag and Pooh ? I was dreading telling her it wasn't with us when I saw an attendant from the lounge walking towards us with a pink bag in her hand. I was so relieved and grateful for them to have realised that this bag had been left behind, wouldn't have been hard to work out who as we were the only ones with children in the lounge, and that they returned it to us. To see Victoria's face light up when she saw it was a great feeling - she then went promptly to sleep otherwise our flight could have been alot more entertaining for us and those around us !!!

Our Beijing adventure is now over. It was such an amazing city to visit and I'm just so pleased that we took the opportunity (as Paul had a few days off work) to visit. We're now working out where to next but until then it's the normal routine !!