The Great Wall

We headed off to the Wall yesterday on a beautiful sunny day. There is shockingly little polution right now - I think we are benefiting from all the prep for the olympics. We put Ling in the carry back pack and Bob trudged up part of the wall. At sometimes it seems the climb is at least a 70 degree angle but he did a lot! The views were spectacular. We followed up all that exercise with a fabulous lunch (our first really good food.) And then a quick trip to see the Water cube where Michael Phelps won 8 gold medals and we saw the bird's nest. We couldn't go into either one but it was kinda cool to see them. Frankly - they paled in comparison to the 3800 mile wall.

Ling: Joke for MPA 2nd Graders: What is purple and 5000 miles long?

Answer: The Grape wall.

Question: What are the 3 functions of the Great Wall? (I will answer when I get back.)

Forbidden City

Ling to MPA 2nd graders: The Forbidden City: It is super, super BIG. Really Big. Almost 3 miles long. It was so cool because of the golden colors for the emporer. If anyone else in China used that color, they were killed. In the 1800s there was an emporer and empress and when the emporer died the empress tried to put her 10 month old son on the throne but she was really ruling and she was called the dragon lady.

Tianamen Square

From Ling to MPA 2nd Graders: Tuesday morning 8:45am.

Yesterday we went to Tianamen square and flew kites. But our string thing broke. Then the police came and said we had to stop.

From Yu Ling to MPA 2nd graders:

At the noodle shop yesterday, it was loud and very crowded and very smokey. There we a lot of beggars outside. Once we gave $1 Yuan to one of them and then more chased us down. One of them had a baby boy with split pants so he could go to the bathroom on the sidewalk. It is 8:30 Monday morning now and 7:30 at night Sunday for you guys! I miss you all a lot.

Yesterday at the Temple of Heaven 2 girls came up and wanted to take their picture with me. Lots of people are staring at me because my parents are white. It feels weird.

This is me at the Temple of Heaven. The emperor came here 500 years ago to get closer to God.

In China! Saturday March 28th.

After long flights and little sleep we have arrived in China. We spent the day at the Temple of Heaven followed by a rickshaw ride to a true Chinese Noodle shop. The smell, the din, and the food was all overwhelming!

March 3rd Getting Ready

We are getting ready to take our daughter, Yu Ling, back to her place of birth: Guiping, Guangxi China.