Happy Birthday Leah

August 19, 2006. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Leah. Happy birthday to you!! Today’s Leah’s first birthday. We really wish we could celebrate this special day with her, but we know we’ll be with her soon enough (two more days)!

We slept a little better last night. We actually slept until 4:00 a.m. this morning. Deana woke up earlier in the night with a headache, but thankfully it was gone when she finally got up. After a few cups of coffee and a hot shower, we went down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast and got ready for the day’s events. Today we toured the Great Wall!

We took a 60 km bus ride northwest of Beijing City to the Badaling Great Wall. When we got there, we rode a cable car to the peak of the mountain and made our way to the Badaling Pass where we climbed the Great Wall. It was truly a breathtaking, once-in-a-lifetime experience. As you can see from the photo we weren’t alone. There were thousands of people climbing along side us!

After we climbed along the wall for a while and took in the sites, we made our way down the mountain and stopped at a cloisonné factory just outside Beijing. For those that don’t know (don’t worry – we didn’t) cloisonné is a type of craft (vases, bowls, plates, etc.) made of copper with designs made of thin copper wires that are filled with colorful glazes. Each piece is hand-made and can take several people months to make. After touring the factory, we made our way back into Beijing City and went to Silk Street, a popular bazaar area in the city center with thousands of shops selling anything from silks to home electronics. After lots of “negotiating” prices (ha ha, bartering), we got some gifts for Leah and made our way back to the hotel.

After a long day, it’s nice to settle down and rest the feet. Tomorrow is our last full day in Beijing and then we FINALLY head to Guangzhou. Even as busy as we’ve been these past couple days, it seems as though the time is going by so SLOW. We wish tomorrow was the 21st!!