We arrived in Beijing on Thursday morning, after getting up painfully early to catch the first flight out of Xi ‘An. Chris had business meetings to attend this afternoon, so Sydney and I found the hotel pool, and just relaxed and enjoyed ourselves. Around 5:30 in the evening, Chris’s work obligations were through, and his colleagues Jessica, Sabrina and Wilson took us out to a popular Beijing restaurant, where the specialty was roasted duck. For any of you who haven’t tried duck, let me tell you, it’s delicious!! The skin is crispy, and tastes a lot like bacon. The meat is tender and juicy, and has a consistency and flavor similar to beef. There was so much food! We had the roast duck, and stir-fried duck meat in these little “bird nests” of rice noodles, and steamed shrimp with a creamy sauce with just a hint of orange. Vegetables included steamed cabbage leaves, and the best vegetable dish by far was the stir-fried bamboo, with roasted seaweed. The seaweed was very much like roasted kale, only saltier, and more savory. Delicious! Sydney was such a good sport, and tried a little of everything on the table. On Friday morning, we met up with four of the other soon-to-be adoptive families, and we went on a guided tour of the Great Wall. Traffic here in Beijing is impressive, and even though we left the hotel after rush hour should have been over, it still took us almost an hour to arrive at the Wall at Badaling. The Wall is a site to behold! It is approximately 10 meters tall, and it snakes along the sides and tops of the mountains surrounding Beijing. To climb the wall is a test of balance and endurance – the stairs are small, unevenly spaced, and at certain areas VERY steep. In the photo above, you can see approximately half of the distance we climbed to reach the highest vantage point of the wall at this location. The weather was unexpectedly hot, our high today was 92 degrees F, when typical for this time of year is low 70’s. We were thankful to be Floridians (who are accustomed to heat), and for hats to shade our faces from the strong midday sun. The hike up was exhausting, and navigating the crowds at the lower portion was tricky, but we stuck together as a family, cheered each other on, and stopped for rest and water many times. An hour and a half later, after climbing over 1,000 vertical feet, we reached the summit!
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Lisa LynchLisa is a world traveling mom that took the ultimate adventure Archives
December 2012
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