Brian and I at the Great Wall of China. Feel free to click on this picture and use it as your desktop back ground. :) It is a pretty good one.
A 700 year old drum. Have you ever seen anything that is man-made and 700+ years old?
The rickshaw before the death-defying ride...
Bike ride through early morning pre-traffic Beijing...
We woke up early Wednesday morning for a bike ride around Beijing. It was relaxing and fun for the first hour. We headed back to the Forbidden City where we were shown the tree where David O. McKay dedicated the land of China for the spreading of the Gospel. The trip back was like being stuck in rush hour traffic downtown in a city of 14 Million people with an old school bicycle for transportation - oh wait, that is exactly what we were doing! It was insane and we were all happy to make it back in one piece. Cars and giant buses have the right of way, so you really have to watch out.
Once back we ate and showered and headed out for one of the most fun things we have done in our lives - bartering for three hours in the local "mall". It is a hilarious experience with quite the adrenaline rush. Brian once again managed to get lower prices than even the most notorious and experienced shopper in the group. People with us would stop by to see him in action. I caught some of it on our friend's camera, though I missed the close, but you can get the idea of their tactics and his. When we get it from them we will blog it.
We grabbed some KFC - fast food is really cheap here - and then went with the group to the Hu Tong neighborhood for a rickshaw ride that turned out to be quite exciting. We found peddlers all along the way and eventually had this lady riding her bike after us, nearly getting hit by a car in an alley to sell us some little bags. She was crazy! "Low money!" We ended up with a rickshaw full of goods we hope will make it through customs:)
Before the ride we climbed exceptionally long and perilous stairs that were steep and sloped backward to the top of a drum tower where we saw a very impressive 700 year old drum predating America by 500 years. We saw a drum demonstration as well that we captured here for you.
Our group was craving another stab at the market so we stopped for pizza - YEA!! - and then went for round two of the day shopping. We helped some of our group get some good deals and ran out of all the cash we brought. Brian and I opted to stay late with Ivun Sorensen and his wife Heidi to see if they could work out some golf clubs. "I give you good price" "You strong man" "You big boss". Peddlers everywhere recognized Brian and shook their fingers at him. One in a shop across from where he had worked the lowest jeans deal of the group actually started lower than we had ever seen because he said he knew who Brian was and that "You tough man". It really was a blast and I turned out to be a better barterer than I expected. Heidi and I went to get a backpack for her husband and when we made it back to him, he had already bought one for more than double what I had gotten the lady to take. We will never be able to shop normally again.
Last night we packed our bags to the brim and prepared to leave the bustling, stinky, busy city of Beijing. This trip has been so full of amazing things I have never seen before and yet it is barely half over. Sometimes I just want to hug and kiss my tough Truman, or listen to a great story from smiley Lincoln or hold my cuddly Baby J. So whoever has them today, do that for me and we will see you soon! Blog on Duryeas web site so we can see what you are up to boys! We love you!
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