The Great Wall

We woke up to blue skies, unheard of, even Alex said we were very lucky to see it, but it was cold, bitterly cold. We all bundled up the best we could and after a slow start (must stop at Starbucks) we drove towards the wall. The closest section of the wall to Beijing is Badaling, but it is usually mobbed by tourists, so we chose a less visited site, slightly further afield, Mutianyu. We drove through countryside (passed a few camels) and into the mountains to reach the base of the mountain and the cable car that would take us to the top. No matter how many times you have seen pictures of the wall, seeing it in person leaves you awestruck. The wall is so high up on the mountain and snakes up and down and twists and turns and goes on and on. It would be astounding if it was built today, it's mind boggling to think that parts of it were built over 1000 years ago. We passed most the vendors hawking their trinkets, only stopping to buy gloves and for Elle to ride a camel. The things she has done on this trip...

Once at the top you can walk in either direction for at least a mile and we did walk quite far, Elle love running ahead of us. We posed for many pictures and again Alex narrated for us. I would love to visit again maybe when it's warmer and when it's greener and spend even more time walking the wall. In the summer, people hike for days and camp out in the towers.

On the way to the wall and back we peppered Alex with questions about modern China and the chinese people. She told us so many interesting things. I told her about being blocked from my blog and FB (she doesn't even know what that is), and asked her how she felt about the censorship, and how most Chinese feel about it. She said, "it's ok, no problem". She's not worried about it one bit and doesn't think most people feel oppressed. She likened the censorship to the Great Wall. She said even then The Wall kept bad guys out and protected the Chinese people, and today censorship does the same thing. Hmmmm. She has no desire to learn more than what the government gives her, and feels strongly that this government is the only way to rule a country of 1.3 billion people. I suppose if I spoke freely to an intellectual I may get another answer, but I do think she represents much of the population. She's quite happy with the way things are in China.

We asked about the one child policy and it is still strongly enforced, unless you are a minority. The Han population makes up over 90% of the population and they can only have one child. If you have an additional you will be fined 200,000 yuan (about $30,000US).

It has become a status symbol for wealthier couples, to have more than one child. Alex is Manchurian, a minority, and so she comes from a family of 2 girls, and she herself could have more than one child.

There are 30 million more men than women in China, of marrying age, and so one would think that Alex would have her choice of nice Chinese men. But no, she has an American boyfriend. A very seedy sounding American boyfriend. She met him online, at a site called something like ChineseWomanfinder.com, or something to that effect. He made many "friends" and then moved to China and started hosting "parties". All the ladies would come, many he flew in from other Chinese cities. And then he would seek a love match.

It all sounds very sketchy, and I feel very happy that Alex doesn't seem to like him all that much.

We spoke about the healthcare bill that just, apparently, passed in the US. I was very surprised to learn that they do not have national healthcare in China. I asked, what happens if you get very sick and can not pay? She said, "go home to die".

China is very unique, a communist-capitalist society. I won't pretend to understand the system very much, other than to know that it's unique and fascinating. Maybe I will have Justin write more about this topic sometime.

The Chinese people in general really like the US and Americans. In fact, their word for the US in Chinese means "Pretty Country". They like us to visit their country and aspire to visit ours.

We arrived back in Beijing and were so hungry but had just a short break before our evening plans. Alex called in take-out for us, specifying very clearly for me how to not cook my vegetables.We had the most deliciously Chinese food, tons of food, for $7US!!

After a short rest at home, Liu Pei and Alex returned to pick us up and take us to the theatre for an acrobatics show. These shows are very popular in China and are similar to Cirque Du Soleil, but smaller productions. Liu Pei drove us to the front door, Alex hopped out and secured ourtickets for us, she took us by the hand to help us buy snacks and led us into the theater to our seats. Then she disappeared, only to magically re-appear at our seats the moment the show ended. I could really get used to this! We had front row, center seats arranged by our guides, and the show was great! Elle and even Liam loved it. She stunts were just like the Cirque, but a little less polished. Very cool.

We returned home to rest up for another full day tomorrow.