Beijing- Friday and Saturday

When planning our 2nd trip to Beijing we had 3 things in mind: Great Wall, Forbidden City, and Shopping. I am proud to say that this past weekend we went to Beijing and got all around the city very successful by our selves, and accomplished all of our goals. I was so proud of us, I mean yes it helps that the subway is in English as well as Chinese, but that is not the point.
On Friday we arrived in Beijing by train, we got on about 10:30pm, slept, then got off about 7am. we then waited at the after a little waiting and traveling we finally arrived to our hostel about 10:30 am. Later that day we ate lunch and went shopping. We shopped for about 4 or 5 hours but it felt like we got nothing accomplished. When each place you by 1 item from takes 30 mins to bargain down to a good price, you really cant be very successful. I spent probably close to an hour bargaining for some jackets and then finding the right sizes. I eventually told the woman she could sell it to me there for my price or I would go get it off the Chinese version of Ebay, of course we got the jackets. Later that night we went to the best pizza place in Beijing (maybe even China) Kro's nest. It was really good, and after that we were all tired, full and so we just chilled for the rest of the evening.

Saturday was AMAZING!!!


We got up early for the Great Wall. Mu Tian Yu is a section of the Great Wall that is not very touristy, so we definitely wanted to go there and we had heard really good things about it. The morning started off slow and it took a while to get there, but it was completely worth it. We loved it and it was really amazing to think that we were actually standing on the Great Wall of China! We could not have asked for a better day, the temperature was perfect. We walked on the wall for about 2 hours; although there were a few uphill climbs, this section of the wall is mostly flat and down hill. Perfect!

Then we took a sled (some of you northerners may know this as a toboggan- I had never known it to be called this) down the side of the mountain/hill the wall is built on. IT WAS RIDICULOUSLY FUN! We could control how fast or slow we went down, and it had twists and turns, so fun. You can see a little of it from the pictures.



Saturday afternoon we went shopping again. This time we went to a different market, one we had never been to before. It was great. it had electronics, and jewelry, then right next to it there was a toy market. Almost any toy you wanted was in this place. After that market we went to the ever famous (i.e. more expensive) Silk Market and purchased a couple of things there. Saturday night we met back up with our friends for some "mexican" food and the BEST milkshake I have ever had. Our last trip to Beijing I also had this milkshake and the second time around was even better! It is a peanut butter chocolate milkshake. Then we went back to the hostel and listened to it rain while we played a game and hung out. It was a great day. And I will end this entry with that, and thoughts of that milkshake, YUM!!!
This is a picture of our friends and co-workers we traveled with, they are some pretty great people :)