Ni Hao (Hello) from China

Beijing China, view from hotel room.

The Great Wall


Standing on the Great Wall, after climbing 300 stairs.


What an experience

Kambry and Clayton on our Hutong tour
Connie and I in our Rickshaw on our Hutong tour


Standing in front of the Temple of Heaven

Well hello from China. I am doing the "happy dance" because I am on solid ground in Beijing. I am sooooo excited to be here. I am even more excited about that 24 hour plane experience being over. Praise the Lord, it went really well. I must say having your own TV is really nice, and a good way to pass the trip. Kambry did excellent, she was so good, slept part of the 13 hour flight, and was always so happy. That's Kambry though. I do know what it means to have jet lag....... I have never been so tired in my life. I was not even this tired at Falls Creek. I was truly exhausted, and I am still feeling it today. In fact when I get done with posting I am going to bed (at 8:30 pm).

Let me tell about out trip today. It started at 8:00 am when our tour guide Michelle picked us up and headed out to a Jade factory. It was so beautiful and of course we were able to shop, and yes I bought a few things. Then we headed to the Great Wall, it was foggy and a little bit cold, but not to bad. I experienced the crowded way of China there, but did not loose sight of Clayton. We walked about 300 stairs and Clayton walked about another 75 to 100. I realized that I am out of shape, because I could not go any farther. After the Great Wall, we went back to Beijing, because the Great Wall is about an hour out, and had lunch at a very nice restaurant. Did not eat a whole lot, but there was a few things I enjoyed. After lunch we went on the Hutang Tour, this is a protected village that is hundreds of years old. Alot of culture and history was shared on the tour. This is were we had our Rickshaw ride also, this was really fun. We did climb more stairs (69) and seen an old tradition of the "beating of the drums". The Chinese really were excited to bring this back because it had much significance. From the Hutang tour we went to the Temple of Heaven, this is were they worshipped the God of Heaven, but not our God in Heaven. After talking with our tour guide, we found out they used much of the terminology and had the same believes but about a different God. The temple was beautiful and very large. By this time we were getting very tired, and thought we were going back to the hotel, but NO we had one more stop, which was the silk factory. They showed us how to make silk, but we were so tired that we were just ready to leave. In the end the tour was very short at the Silk factory.

Tomorrow we are going to a Pearl factory and the Summer Palace, and then back to the airport to hop a plane to Guangzhou. Once we are there we will not get on another plane until we leave....... Yeah

Thanks for the prayers everyone, I know that my God and those prayers are my saving grace and why I had such pleasant experience. Praise the Lord!