Beijing Day 2 & On to Tianjin

OK I have no idea how I'm supposed to organize thoughts into blog posts with alllll that goes on each day! I was looking at photos and can't believe it's really only our second day in China. We've done so much! The first stop today was the jade factory. The showroom was HUGE with anything and everything you could possibly want in any quality grade of jade. I think I was on overload after about 20 minutes. I picked up Baby J's first keepsake - a jade pendant of his zodiac animal (boar) on a red rope. Very cute! Our main destination today was the Great Wall at Badaling. We had only about an hour and a half to spend there because we had to be back in town to catch the 3:30 train but I think that was probably fine with us. It was definitely fine with my jello legs by the time we got back down! Even though I've heard plenty of people talk about how steep the wall is, until you're actually on it and climbing it there's really no way to know what to expect. We stopped climbing at the second guard tower - about twice as far as I thought I'd make it. AMAZING but crowded. Two observations I have to make: Why do women come to the wall wearing short dresses and high heels? And boy do I have tons of respect for families that go to the wall with their babies! I can't imagine trying what we did today with 20 pounds strapped to me!
After lunch, we shopped a little more and got to watch artists demonstrating how they create the items that were for sale. Beautiful work but unfortunately there just isn't room in my suitcase if I'm going to make that weight limit for the next flight!
Our guide took us to the new train station and waited with us until we could board. We already miss him and all think we got lucky to get someone so laid back and pretty easy to understand. We definitely felt taken care of. He even tried to get another ticket just to help us bring our bags down to the train. The station looks like an airport...and for that matter, the inside of the train was more comfortable than the plane! I wasn't sure what to expect from the view considering the speed of the train but it was a very nice trip through some agricultural areas and gave us a flavor of what life looks like outside the city. When we arrived in Tianjin, we could tell right away that the city has a different feel than Beijing. Older and less westernized, but clearly HUGE with some areas that are prospering. Our guide met us at the station and took us to our hotel and then walked with us to a local market to pick up some water and drinks for the next couple of days. For dinner tonight we thought we'd play it safe and eat at the hotel restaurant. This should really be a post of its own to do it justice. And I might just do that later! But let's just say that the menu had so much lost in translation and the 4 of us were in uncontrollable giggles and none of the staff spoke English. Let's just say we opted for the fried rice instead of the beef with bacteria or osteocarcinoma vegetables. We're trying to figure out how to get our hands on the menu again because it was just too much. It didn't help that I pulled out my Mandarin translation book and stumbled on clearly the wrong page -- this really wasn't the situation where one needs to use the phrase "touch me here" or "Easy, tiger." Yes, we were in full meltdown hysterics. :)

Well...I'll have to fill in the blanks more later. Just about 12 more hours before we head downstairs to meet the guide and then head off to the orphanage. The day is finally almost here!