Great Wall and more posting 5-15-10

Been too busy to post. Our schedule has been busy since the 14^th. Then there's that problem with getting completely on China time. We are just worn out at the end of the day. But we are adjusting slowly, it's getting better every day.

We'll play some catch up on our posting:

May 15^th:

We went to the silk factory and saw how they make silk. Very interesting! It's amazing how strong silk is when it is woven together. The silk bedspreads, clothes, scarves, etc we saw were absolutely beautiful. The money they wanted for them was a little high. But way cheaper than after it's been exported. Very cool tour. Of course we had to buy something. It wasn't a duvet cover, didn't need one and silk and cats is not a good mix.

After the silk factory we went to climb The Great Wall of China. Good heavens that thing is tall. Uneven steps the whole way make it treacherous and challenging. It's as tough going up as it is coming down. I (Kathi) only made it about halfway. Halfway was good, still had a fabulous view without dying. On the other hand, David and Meigan went up as far as the high peak. Meigan made it to the top cupola. She climbed all the way herself, no being carried. She kept talking to David about doing it herself and winning. That's our daughter. Loves to win! It was a beautiful day for a kick the butt climb.

Once we were done with our climbing we ate lunch at a factory restaurant. I wish I could spell the name of it but they make cloisonné (couldn't spell it if I had to). We walked through the factory to get to the restaurant but didn't buy anything. We were tempted to. They were so…beautiful! The Chinese lunch was really good. Chinese style eating is that they always put tons of food on a huge lazy susan and the sampling of different types of food is wonderful.

Then after that, (yes, there's more) we went to a acrobat show. It was fabulous! Meigan missed the whole show. She fell asleep on the bus before we got there. She's still not completely on China time. She has been falling asleep most nights about 6 o'clock. Only one night she made it to 7:30.

After the Acrobat show, we went to take pictures of The Bird Nest stadium from the 2008 Olympics in China. It was very beautiful. It was the end of the day and they light it up at night. After that we went back to our hotel. We had been gone almost 12 hours. We then got together with some of the other families and went to Pizza Hut for supper. In China, Pizza Hut also serves Chinese food among other things. Both times we have had pizza so far in China, we have come to the same conclusion, Chinese don't put but a trace of pizza sauce on their pizzas. It's more like fancy cheese toast. Finally after eating we went back to our room and crashed. It was a long, but really fun day. Tomorrow I will post about Gotcha day with pictures from May 15^th and May 17^th (Gotcha Day). May 16 we flew from Beijing to Zhengzhou. So, for now, goodnight from China!