Friday, March 22 – We were all up very early. Dana and Linda were up around 2:30 am. Clara and Brad were much better sleepers and got up around 5 am. The 12 hour time difference is a bit difficult to get used to. We had a yummy breakfast at the hotel and tried many new foods. Brad tried meat floss bread and Linda tried rice congee (which we have heard that is something Nora likes to eat). Though no one was brave enough to try the chicken claws, which were literally roasted chicken feet. Dana said it gives chicken fingers a whole new meaning! Then Grace our wonderful guide came at 9 am to take us to the Great Wall. As we drove, we passed miles and miles of tree farms. The area near the Great Wall is a growing area for fruit and nut trees. We took a cable car ride to the wall. It was about 50 degrees. The peach blossoms were just starting to bud on the mountain side. It was windy and chilly on the wall but super sunny and we had great visibility. The wall was so impressive. It runs through 7 provinces. Pictures don’t do it justice. We hiked to a few towers on the wall and then we were back in the cable car to ride down the mountain. Grace took us to the Garden House restaurant for lunch. It looked like a greenhouse that was converted into a restaurant. There were plants growing out of the floor that made walls in between the tables. We tried lots of yummy Chinese food. The vegetables in our meal were fresh from this province. We tried agar plum and lots of other veggies we couldn’t name. Then off to the airport to catch a short 2 hour flight to X’ian. Grace was so kind and answered our many questions. She gave Dana an early birthday present and just kept saying how wonderful the girls were. She gave Nora a little China flag and Clara a little bracelet with a tiny carved gourd on it. The gourd means good luck.
CoulsonFamily 