Saturday night, after Christine's wedding, we stayed at the PMP. Sunday morning we went to Sacrament Meeting with everyone that was still around and then our family left to go up to Layton. We arrived in the afternoon with enough time to get mostly settled in before dinner. Rachael and Kaiden came over because we would not be seeing them once we got back. They were going on their own adventure across the ocean to go see Europe.
After dinner, we got the girls in bed and then packed up the rest of our stuff for our China trip. We left bright and early Monday morning for the airport, saying goodbye to a sad Kate on our way out the door.
It was so weird for me, walking through the airport without my kids in tow. It was definitely easier, but I wasn't a fan of the feeling. However, after enduring a 12 hour flight, I was grateful they didn't have to endure with us.
We arrived to China on their Tuesday night and promptly fell asleep, exhausted from our travels. Wednesday morning we woke up and went to the market with Linda. It was SO cool. There was a huge variety of fruits, veggies, and meats, many of which I had never seen before. And the market just kept going and going, one little shop after the next.
The meat market was very interesting. All the meat just hanging right before you. The smell was not wonderful but my pregnant self was able to stomach it no problem. Blessings all around.
The seafood was HUGE. Some of the lobsters and fish looked like they weighed 15-20 pounds. And again, SO many options.
That is one huge crab. I would not want to see that thing next to me in the ocean.
The big eggs were Ostrich eggs. $20 a piece, so we passed. Andrew's only regret on this trip was not buying the Ostrich egg.
Day two was spent at the Temple of Heaven. It was built in the 1400s and thinking about that as we walked around made the amazing architecture even more amazing.
The scale at which a lot of Chinese historical sights was built is mind boggling to me. The courtyard at the Temple of Heaven was huge as were all the other buildings around it.
Inside the main complex.
Monks these days. Even they can't live without their cell phones.
The detail in everything was amazing. There were so many of these dragons everywhere and to imagine carving each one out of stone, wood, whatever it may be, ...that had to have taken a whole lot of time and a whole lot of people.
This lady had a sun mask on her face to protect her skin from the sun. Having a white face is desirable over in China. Linda asked to get a picture with her and as soon as she did, the lady took off her mask. Oh well.
After the Temple of Heaven we went over to the Pearl Market to quickly look through the shops so we could have an idea of what was available. Here is the view from the top of the Pearl Market.
Day three we hiked up to The Great Wall of China. It was quite the hike up hill. We stopped a few times to catch our breath.
The midway point. Here is where we climbed to to get on the tram that takes us the rest of the way up the mountain.
We made it up to The Wall. It was a beautiful view everywhere you looked.
There was wheel chair access at the top, however, you'd have to be outside your mind to go up to the wall in a wheel chair. There were steep drop offs everywhere and their ramp even looked dangerous. If someone let go of your wheel chair on that ramp you'd be a goner.
5,500 miles of wall.
My mind is blown. It takes quite a bit of effort to get to the wall, but to build it!?!
The steps were crazy. Lots were falling apart, some were 18+ inches tall, others were 2 inches tall. It made for some very steep flights of stairs to go up and down.
China bug.
