my heart has 8 feet: Journey to Jadyn Grace...

China day 1 (and the first few hours)
This may just be random notes/expressions but I don't want to forget a thing from this journey, so bear with me!
Some funny things...
- Dinner our first night was interesting! Our friends and us went to a restaurant just down the block from our hotel in Beijing. The ordering was quite interesting, but thankfully there were pictures on the menu so we muddled our way through. I never even thought about the fact that there would be no utensils at the table, just chop sticks... which I am not so good at, nor is the wife of the couple we are with. We laughed and laughed as we tried to pick up our dumplings, those slippery little boogers!
- Saturday morning John was in the shower and I heard a bang and him gasp. I ran in to check on him and discovered that he had accidentally found the rain head when he pulled a plug and freezing cold water doused him from the ceiling!

Saturday morning we met our guide at 8:00 to head to the Great Wall. We were told that we were very fortunate with the weather and very low smog. Visibility was amazing. We climbed about 10 million steps (not really but definitely more than I've ever climbed in my life, and we will seriously be feeling it tomorrow!). I almost gave out twice but when we made it to the top I was so thankful I pushed through. It was absolutely amazing!

After the Great Wall we went to a Jade market. We were able to watch men cut and etch some amazing detail into these pieces. I actually learned a little about Jade too, I thought it was all green, nope, there is yellow, white, different shades of green... six different colors actually, it was a cool place. We learned that Jade is considered an heirloom. Passed down from generation to generation in this culture.

When we were done in the market we ate at the restaurant above. We enjoyed a traditional Chinese lunch. It was yummy, though the guys weren't thrilled. We also got more experience with chop sticks, and the experience was equally as entertaining as last night's dinner!

After lunch we returned to the hotel and took a break for a few minutes. We then headed out to the Forbidden City. WOW, all I can really say. The history in that place was amazing! It was absolutely beautiful as well. The detail they put in to the craftsmanship of that place was truly extraordinary.

After we finished there we headed towards Time Square Beijing, and the "walking" street. Literally, walking only, no cars allowed. On our way there we passed "food street". Well, that was interesting! Fried star fish, steamed snake, fried spiders, fried crickets, fried scorpions, boiled centipede, and even fillet of cat or dog! Seriously, the smell was almost enough to make me gag!

Then we made it to Time Square Beijing. It was crazy, a lot different from the rest of what we had experienced so far. It was definitely the modern part of where we were. 2-3 story tall buildings housing department store after department store. It was sensory overload!