Jumping, Climbing, Admiring, Waiting...

The acrobat show in Beijing was another incredible display we're happy we didn't miss. Unfortunately though, Marc had been hit with a bout of stomach failure so he was a little off for one and a half days. Thankfully it fell at the perfect time as it didn't overlap with any sightseeing or train rides...

Big news. I am now a man. Or so I'm told. Apparently climbing the Great Wall of China makes a true man. Maybe 'man' was used in the generic sense, as in 'person'... Let's hope so! We took a 3+ hour bus ride to a remote section of the Great Wall and spent a long, exhausting four hours trekking along the wall. We scaled some really treacherous, crumbling terrain that would never pass safety standards in any western country! We were essentially on our own for most of it as this section is not frequented by many tourists. Brilliant. We did have some informal local guides - Mongolian farmers from nearby villages. Of course their assistance ended with them guilting us all into buying some souvenirs! Amidst hanging on for dear life, clutching at our hearts due to our lack of fitness and tearing open our water bottles out of dire thirst, we reminded ourselves to stop and enjoy the view. Wow. We climbed the Great Wall of China. And it was incredible. We have the pics to prove it and will share upon our return!

Yesterday we went to see the Terracotta Warriors - an army of approximately 7,000 'men', created around 200 B.C. to protect the Emporer Qin in his mausoleum. Each figure has unique features as each represented a real warrior. They were discovered in 1974 by some farmers digging a well. Only some of them have been excavated to date. What an incredible archaeological discovery.

The warriors are located about an hour outside Xi'an, a city of almost 8 million. We were expecting a small city with clean air... instead, we found a massive city with more pollution than Beijing! It's so smoggy you can't see the sun *cough, cough* It's a beautiful city though and we're really enjoying it here. Last night we went out for a dumpling feast - the dumplings were in the shape of what was inside, i.e., walnut, chicken, pork, etc. Afterwards we hit Bar Street for a while, then were off to 'The Best Karaoke Bar in China'. We had the greatest time - in our own room with leather couches... You select your drinks and snacks from the adjacent store and the staff walks through with you filling a basket up with your goods! We closed the place down and got back to our hotel at about 3 a.m...

We're off to eat lunch in the Muslim Quarter, check out the mosque, walk along the city wall (Xi'an is an ancient city with its wall still intact), and then do some more shopping in the market - and hit the Jade Market as well!

This evening we're off on another train ride, to Shanghai... It's expected to be 16 hours, although our expectations for timeliness have all but disappeared. Our train to Xi'an from Beijing was to be 14 hours, but once we were on, we learned it was a newer and faster train so we would arrive in 11-12 hrs. That would have happened, had we not stopped at 5:30 a.m. due to a train derailment ahead of us... We began moving again at about 3 p.m., arriving at 5:30 p.m. instead of 9 a.m. For a country that can apparently construct a hospital in 14 days, we have no idea what caused the delay. Sitting on a train for 20 hours (we had sleepers so at least we could stretch out and nap) isn't the worst of it when you're dealing with squatting toilets that hadn't been cleaned for the entire duration. The staff kept getting additional stock of noodle bowls to feed us... Yummy!

Wish us luck tonight!

Peking Duck and Kung Fu

Our tour officially started last night. We met our tour leader, Ying, and the rest of the travellers we'll be with for the next three weeks. There are only 10 of us and everyone is around our age, which is great. Five are from England, one from Ireland and two from Austria. A good mix to be sure.

We went out for Peking duck last night - and learned how to properly eat it. A bit tricky with chopsticks but we all managed well enough! We're basically on our own when we arrive in each city, but Ying gives us ideas on what to do. Today some of us went to the Summer Palace, which was the summer home of the Emperor. The Empress had her own home... and we found out the Emperor didn't even love her so they had no children together, although he fathered many children with the women of his concubine! Sweet deal, some might say, living in a posh setting with no children to bear or raise! There is a massive man-made lake on the property - absolutely beautiful setting.

Tonight we've just finished watching a wicked Kung Fu show. It was incredibly impressive - boys flipping on their heads and all!

Now we're off to eat some dinner, then to the Night Market, then perhaps to a bar on 'Bar Street' (a street full of 200 bars!), followed by karaoke at KTV, the biggest and best known karaoke place in Beijing, just steps from our hotel! Marc and I saw it the other night and thought, we have to check this place out...

Still have not determined what the Chinese eat for breakfast... We're making do but I haven't the slightest clue what it is I'm eating in the morning. I selected something new from the market today (different from yesterday), but Marc stuck with McDonald's for a bit of a taste of home.

Tomorrow we're going to the Forbidden City and Tian'anmen Square. Marc and I already walked there the other day but haven't gone into the Forbidden City yet. We'll get a guide to explain everything to us. In the evening we'll be going to see the Beijing Acrobats. If it's anything like the Kung Fu show, we're in for a real treat!

Beijing, China: Speaking of the Sun...

Our first morning in Beijing... Apparently we can't view our blog due to Chinese censorship but we can post to it so here we go! Thankfully my keyboard is translated into English as well and it's a QWERTY setup so no struggle to type.

Our 13 hour flight was surprisingly comfortable and didn't feel nearly as long as expected. All the technology on the brand-new Boeing 777 kept us well entertained!

We arrived yesterday to a city with much construction underway, probably partly for the upcoming Olympics (the bridges and overpasses), but also likely due to population growth (ten buildings going up at the same time in one small area).

Upon leaving the airport we noticed two things: the smell - mmm, tasty, and the fact we could look directly at the sun due to the smog. This begs the question ,do we still need sunscreen? (Don't worry, mom, we put it on anyway). This morning though, it's sunny, so our theory went out the window with our first look through it.

Our hotel is much nicer than expected - especially considering I'd prepared myself for $3 a night accommodations - but we're not planning on getting used to the luxury!
Dinner last night was satisfying - $3 ramen noodles at a nearby restaurant.

With stomachs grumbling to be fed breakfast, we're off to check out Beijing!

- Trish -

Our first spin around the sun!

Today is our one year anniversary! The year just flew by and to celebrate, we've decided to go on a little trip to Asia for 4 months. We're leaving one week from today. I'm starting to get extremely excited!

Follow this link if you want to refresh your memory about our wedding!
www.mashtogether.com

Back in Toronto

We've been back in Toronto for 6 days now and have been busy unpacking and preparing for our trip. We're leaving in just over 2 weeks and it doesn't seem like enough time to get ready!

Of course we're on vacation and don't want to be to busy all the time so we went down to the beach yesterday to relax in the warm, almost record breaking heat.

Some guy was working on some really cool and almost impossible rock balancing art on the beach. Here are a few of my favourite pictures.