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....Today was our second day in Beijing. I started out this morning with another run. This time I ran to the Forbidden City and the Hutong area which we had visited yesterday on our tour. Seeing it without the tour group was a different experience. The Hutong area is an ancient housing area located just outside the Forbidden City. The homes are 400-600 years old and the streets wind around like lo mein noodles. I found myself in a large open-air farmers market. This is where Beijing'ers go each day to buy food and other stuff. I had to stop running because I found myself in a sea of people (I would guess 10,000) in a very small area almost shoulder-to-shoulder. As I walked through, I enjoyed looking at the different kinds and variety of the fresh fruits and veggies. I was sure to keep my hand on my wallet because everyone warned us about the pickpockets. The noise was intense because all of the vendors were yelling out their products and prices. I stopped for a little bartering but didn't end up buying anything there. It was a great experience. As I left the market area, I headed back toward the hotel and on the way I did stop at a little shop and purchased some bananas and great looking roses for Angela. The bananas and roses cost less than 2 American dollars. I think she liked the roses.... she was not too excited about the bananas. I had not expected to stop at the market so I was a little late getting back to the hotel. So, I had to rush the shower and a quick breakfast then back on the bus for our tour. Our first stop today was the Jade Factory and Market where we learned how to tell the difference between various qualities of jade. Angela figured it out rather quickly and found a beautiful jade bracelet that she just had to have. After the Jade Factory we headed on to the Great Wall. The Great Wall is the only man-made object on earth that is viewable from space. It was really spectacular. It was built to defend China from the Mongolians. We climbed up part of the way, but it is a very daunting climb....the steps have uneven height and are not all smooth, so it makes climbing rather difficult.
 Next stop was the factory where Ming vases are made with copper and we had another authentic Chinese lunch. Angela played it safe & stuck to the rice, but I really enjoyed Chinese dishes. However, I did skip the fried fish with the fish head and tail fried and served on the plate. Our final stop was the "Sacred Way", or "Way of the Spirit", which is where the emporers of the Ming Dynasty are buried. It was a beautiful area with trees and lots of green grass. Relaxing music was playing all along the walkway. It was about a mile walk that was relaxing.
 Another day of touring and we are pooped. We had to pack up all our things and get ready for our trip to the Gansu Province tomorrow morning. We leave at 5:30am and take a Chinese airline for a 2-hour flight and arrive into Lanzhou (the city where we will be staying) at 9:30am. I think it's an hour drive to the "Legend Hotel" where we will be staying. Then I'm not sure what the exact details are, but I know sometime tomorrow our daughter will travel from the city of Pingliang and meet us at the Legend Hotel. There are six other families whose daughters will make the same 3-5 hour journey tomorrow and we will all meet our daughters together. It is sure to be an amazing experience. I am really starting to get a rush of feelings about all that will happen tomorrow. We'll write when we can tomorrow and post pictures of our amazing experience!
Love,
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