Odds and Ends

     When we moved here, we were faced with a dilemma.  Should we live near the school we had selected--in Tianjin, or near Kevin's work--in TEDA?  After our first trip to church, we found out it is about a mile from where the school is. I thought that was very interesting that in a metropolitan area of 10 million people that stretches for 20 kilometers in every direction, the school AND church are right by each other.  So maybe we should have chosen to live there--we could have had early morning seminary!  

     Instead, working with the information we had at the time,  we decided to live in TEDA.  Someone was going to have an hour commute--should it be Kevin, who would have to travel during rush hour, so it would take longer than an hour?  Or should it be the girls who would be traveling earlier?  We knew a bus picked up the students here, right outside our apartment building, and the website said after school there were 3 departure times: right after school, and an hour or so later for those students wanting to participate in after-school activities.  Great!  

 The only thing we didn't know is that since we live so far away, there is only ONE after-school bus.  If someone on the bus needs to stay after, then everyone has to stay.  Oh, and they forgot to mention the $1700 bus fee for the year.  (Good thing WE don't have to pay that!!!)  And, instead of a big, comfortable bus, we have a small bus, that bounces a lot, especially if you sit in the back.  Still, the girls are able to read, or sleep,or even do homework, as long as it doesn't involve writing, and things are going well.  

     Being  a lover of all things green and growing, I have been interested in how things are grown here.  One thing we love about TEDA is the amount of green--tree-lined streets, sculptured gardens along the routes, and some open grassy areas.  I was especially interested in how new trees are staked.  In America, there would be 3 poles, with cords around the tree.  The Chinese system uses a ton of wood, as there are braces at the bottom as well.  And it was a good thing I got the picture when I did, for a couple of days later, all the brackets were removed.  Since the trees don't seem to be new ones, I'm left wondering why they were even there.  Left over from a few years ago when the trees WERE new?

     I have a large patio that I am itching to fill up with flowers and some vegetable plants--or at least get all the stuff so I can do that next spring since it is getting late in the growing season.  I found some large pots yesterday at a street market (plastic ones as the ceramic ones are very expensive--now I wish I had shipped some of my outdoor pots from home!  Who knew!)  One thing I haven't found is any potting soil.  I think back to the bags of rich, black soil at every hardware or big box store in America and wonder why I can't find any such thing here.

     This is the kind of soil I see in pots here (these are in the outside window at a neighborhood grocery store)--it looks like cement!  But the square can held a vine that grew up over the face of the store, 20-30 feet long, so maybe it is okay.  

     We keep reminding ourselves that TEDA has less smog than in Tianjin.  That it is cooler out here close to the ocean (there is always a breeze here),

and the shopping is much more expat-friendly. Still, Elizabeth mourns the difficulty in hanging out with her school friends.  If we were back in Iowa, it would be like driving from Cedar Falls to Cedar Rapids everyday.  And if she wants to stay in the evening, we have to get our driver and go pick her up--a 2-hour round trip.  I guess it's just something we'll get used to.

Kevin has a new calling...

     We received a phone call on Sat night... could we be at church 45 minutes early?  The district presidency was visiting, and wanted to meet with us.   Kevin is now the 2nd counselor in the new branch presidency.  From left to right:  Bro. Mower, the new clerk, Pres. Gary Baker, new president, Kevin, District President Steve Toronto, his counselor Bro Rogers, and taking the picture was Bro. Lattimer.

   It was a very interesting day.  Pres. Toronto interviewed me first:  how was the family doing in adjusting to life in China? did our family follow the expected spiritual road, as in did we have family prayer, FHE, scripture study, etc.?  It is at moments like this that every hassle in getting these things done has been worth it so that I can reply, "yes, we do."  It is different being in an area where we don't have a "history"--the leaders don't know what we've done or where we've served.
   Then Kevin was interviewed, then both of us together as the call was extended.  I was in awe of Pres. Toronto's speaking ability.  He sounded like a General Authority, and was so clear and concise.  He has the ability to say things the way I'd LIKE to be able to say them.  And interestingly, Pres. Toronto grew up in the same SLC neighborhood as Kevin--in fact, they attended the same elementary school, and Pres. Toronto is Kirk's age.
    The members of the district presidency all live in Beijing.  Both counselors are attached to the American Embassy (either lawyers or other government service).  Pres. Toronto is an attorney for the NBA in China.  So if we ever want to go to one of the exhibition NBA games here, he has tickets--just ask.  Pres. Lattimer said his kids are all gone now, and they have two extra bedrooms--if we want a place to stay for district conference, just give him a call.  And district conference is in a few weeks.
     One interesting piece of information they passed along was to be careful with our girls at an international school.  The ones in Beijing are populated with the wealthy kids from around the world and all kinds of bad behaviors are going on.  We feel SO blessed to have the international school that we do--with opening prayers, and teachers enforcing the modest dress code, and no swearing, and people acting like real Christians.  Of course we must always be vigilant, even at an LDS Youth Conference, but it is a good school.
    The best part of the day, as far as Elizabeth was concerned, is that she didn't have to give the talk she'd prepared.  It was saved for the following week.

China's National Bird...

The crane!

Moving Day--Part I: The Camp-out

 We finally did it.  We decided it would be better to be camping in our apartment with a few items either purchased or borrowed, than to be enjoying the luxury of the hotel.  Believe it or not, it actually gets old.  The breakfast buffet loses its appeal as we each settled into having the same things everyday.  At least the hot chocolate got better!  The first days, a waiter would come by (after seating us) to ask if we wanted coffee or tea.  We asked for hot chocolate, and sure, we can have that.  It would take 20 minutes to come and then looked like it had been a chocolate bar melted into milk--little floating fragments of not-very-sweet chocolate.  Not big enough to enjoy, just big enough to mar the liquid texture.  By yesterday morning, the hot cocoa arrived when we did, and was really good.  They had learned how to make it!

   The beds were SO comfortable... with sheets of something like 1200-count threads (so smooth and soft), and a down comforter.  We had no problem sleeping!  This is A & E's bedroom--ours had a king-size bed.  We had to have bedding for the apartment (there are beds here--but not nearly as comfortable), so I asked the hotel if we could purchase some of their sheets, and they let us.  They ended up being about $100 a set, but that is what we would have had to pay at the local store--and who knows what the quality was, and we weren't even sure what the size was.  So now I have some wonderful hotel sheets!

 We rearranged some of the furniture more to our liking and have been getting adjusted.  This is more where the real culture shock begins--or is it the same when moving into any new living accommodations?  "This is the stupidest shower set-up that I've ever seen!"  (quote by Ellie, as she mopped up water with the towel she had planned on drying herself with.) Or, "Sorry, the AC works everywhere but in the master bedroom."  And there are no heating/AC vents in the bathrooms, just a small venting fan.  So it is stuffy now, and will be cold in the winter.  Great.  I'm sure we'll adjust.  And I'm sure there will be more surprises.

   There have been good surprises too.  My first meal (lunch) in the new apartment?  Baguette, Skippy peanut butter (chunky!  and only about $2 at the regular store), and honey.  And the honey has a good flavor.  I've tasted some honeys that were gaggy, and I wondered how it would taste here, after all , some of the meats have a really funny flavor.  I should have known all would be well when the honey section of the store had about 15 varieties.  It is easy to tell which things are important here.  The cooking oil section takes up a whole aisle (one side)  with all kinds of varieties.  And it comes in really big bottles.

Our apartment is in this complex, but is off to the right.  We couldn't see it from the hotel because of some high-rises being built by the street.  The golf-course winds around behind us, so when the weather is not so muggy, I can sit on my patio and watch golfers on one hole.
   And this was the 2nd clear day we've had since being here.  It was nice to see blue sky again, but if you notice, there is still a layer of murk.   That's because those twin cooling towers in the center of the picture belong to a coal-burning power plant.  When I first saw them, I thought it was a nuclear plant, and that gave me pause.  However, I think I would have preferred that to the dirt.  There is a thin film of oily black on everything.  That is one reason I agreed to having an ayi--it is necessary to mop and dust every day.  We have white tile floors, and they look clean, but walking around barefoot, my feet become filthy.  And yesterday, when it rained, I thought, "great, the patio will get washed off!" But it was actually dirtier afterwards!  Then it rained an hour later, and that time it did get mostly washed off.  You see people with buckets of water washing off their cars.  This will be an unending battle.
   Another family lent us some blankets and pillows;  we purchased some really cheap towels, and enough dishes to get by--4 bowls, 4 plates, 4 of each utensil, etc., a mop, broom, and so on.  We just hope the shipment comes quickly!

My Day...

      Before we moved here, someone said, "So the girls will be in school and Kevin will be at work.  What are YOU going to do with all your time?"

     So, here is my day:  I get up at 5:30, so we can have family prayer about 6, then we go down to breakfast so the girls can be on their bus by 6:30 pm.  It doesn't look like we will be able to do Early Morning Seminary.  But the girls could do their Home Study manuals on the bus, so they could have a daily morning experience.

     So!  I have "free time" from 6:30 a.m. until the girls get home at 4:30 pm.  TEN hours!  That's two more hours than I am used to, but I've been finding enough to do.

• I do name indexing.
• I study Chinese with Rosetta Stone.
• I do some hand laundry.  (I don't want the hotel doing underwear, and I need something active to do--something that feels like what a mom should be doing!)  And Deborah, this is the kind of drying rack I was looking for.  

• I read.  I finished the first book in The Wheel of Time series and have begun the second book.  This was a series I've been wanting to read for about 10 years, but the books were so thick I knew I didn't have the time.  Now I do.  And thanks, Adam, for letting me take the 2nd book.  I've also been finishing up Justin's book.  I like the changes he's made.  It's a good book!
• I work-out in the exercise room and finish off with a swim.
• And I do cross-stitch while I listen to podcasts from the radio station back in Iowa.  That helps me keep in touch with the political situation, especially this past week leading up to the Straw Poll.  The cross-stitch is getting to the point of doing the back-stitching.  

• And thank heavens for the internet.  It takes a while keeping up with email and blogs.
• Then there are days with appointments.  This evening, we have the hour-long ride into Tianjin to attend the high school open house.  Sometimes I wonder if we should have lived closer to the school!

       Once everyone gets home, we walk to a restaurant, or if trying one that is further away we have the driver take us.  We actually enjoy the walk--and it is often a mile or so.  It was really hot when we first got here, with a lot of humidity, but the past week has been in the 80's, with a nice breeze, so it's pretty comfortable.

      In the evening, if the girls' homework is all finished, we often watch an episode of "Psych".  Then it's family scripture reading, family prayer and off to bed about 9:30 pm.  

It's a little different from what I'm used to, but it's alright.

So, I Hired an Ayi today...

When I first heard about ayi's, I had ambivalent feelings about having one.  An ayi is a maid/nanny, and I don't have little children at home.  I don't have a job.  I don't have a church calling as yet.  I have a an apartment that is half of what our house used to be.  I don't have a yard to take care of.  Why do I need an ayi?    But it seems to be expected that families such as ours have an ayi, and there are billions here who need a job, so we decided to give it a try. With the help of a relocation agent, I interviewed a nice woman.  She is 32 years old, and will travel 30 minutes by bicycle to come to work.  We will pay $300 a month for 20 hours a week.  Now, all I have to do is figure out what to have her do!  She has worked here in Warner Garden, for an American family, so she understands some simple English, and I am hoping she can help me a lot with my Chinese.  

  

 The above is the kitchen of our new apartment.  The dishwasher is on the other side of the island, next to the sink.  The microwave is tiny, as is the oven.  Good thing we're cooking for 4 instead of the whole family!  The laundry room is through those doors.          This is the living room (with furnished sofas, chairs, tables and TV).  Ellie already has the remote controls figured out.  The furniture is not new, but it is comfortable, and the biggest bonus is that it doesn't smell of cigarette smoke.                     

And this is the view out of the patio windows--a portion of the golf course, so we have green space to look at.  (And if you can't see all the buildings beyond, because of the smog, you can make believe it isn't a big city...)  Also, our balcony is the top balcony, so instead of having a concrete roof, we have a slatted open roof, and we are south-facing, so I'm thinking I should be able to do some great container gardening--some spinach, tomatoes, etc.  All I have to do is find a store with the containers, dirt and seeds or seedlings!

We were blessed with an interesting "vase".  It's about 4 feet tall--an umbrella stand?  for silk flower arrangements?  Your ideas?  By the way, this door leads to the master bedroom and bathroom.

This is the view from the front door of the apt.  I was intrigued that we will have french doors across the room, just like we did in our home in France.  Something familiar-feeling.   The dining table and chairs were placed here, but I think we'll put them over by the kitchen and move the living room furniture over a bit.  And in a bit of "why did they do that???" the table has FIVE chairs, not six.  Maybe it is because many families have a set of grandparents, the parents, and ONE child.  Maybe that's it.  It has been interesting in restaurants seeing the number of tables with three chairs.

And this is the entrance to our apartment building.

And from a bit further back.  Our apartment is on the opposite side of the building.  But you can see the type of slatted-roof we have on our patio.

Now the only problem is that our shipment hasn't arrived, and we just found out that it didn't even begin the ocean voyage until a couple of days ago (problems with China allowing anything in).  It will arrive in port on Sept. 5 and THEN begin the customs process.  We are hoping and praying it goes well.  And quickly.  One fellow here has been waiting for his shipment since mid-April.  Another family got theirs in just a few weeks.  I just hope we get the right official assigned to our shipment!

LDS Church, Tianjin-Style

 Going to church is a big part of our lives.  In my whole lifetime, the only times I've missed are when I've been sick, had a new baby, or was tending a sick child.  And we missed church when we traveled here to China, because we didn't arrive until Sunday evening--even though we left America early on Saturday.  Sunday just isn't Sunday without taking part in worshiping at church.  When we lived in France, it was comforting to know that the Church is the same, even if the language was different.  The same lesson manuals are used, the same hymns are sung, the same format of meeting is followed.  And the members of the congregation feel as familiar as those I've known for years.  There is an instant community when you gather with other members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.    So, it might be an understatement to say that we were ecstatic to find a branch of the Church here in Tianjin, and it is English-speaking.  Knowing there was a branch made the decision to move here that much easier.

   The branch meetings are held in a large home that has been converted to a church. There are no markings on the outside--no familiar church insignia.  You have to know where you are going, and the exact address, because there are dozens of these homes in a crowded neighborhood.

 We had been told that it was a largish branch, with some 50 or 60 members.  But I only count 38 chairs, plus 6 chairs at the front.  I suppose at any given time, someone is traveling elsewhere. So the membership is quite fluid.

And, as to being in English, at least half of the members are Korean or Taiwanese, so sometimes prayers are said in Korean or Chinese.  The sacrament prayers are in Chinese--because the priest is a 16-year-old that speaks some English but is more comfortable in his native language.

This past Sunday, our 2nd Sunday at this branch,  Kevin and I were assigned talks for Sacrament Meeting.  We were told to speak for 15 minutes each.  I spoke first and took exactly 15 min.  Then we found out that Kevin was the only other speaker, and he had almost 30 minutes to fill.  He did a great job of it!  Oh, and I played the piano.   Elizabeth and Alice gave the opening and closing prayers.

 I also got to teach the Relief Society lesson.  It went very well.  I haven't taught adults for about 6 years, having been in Young Women and Nursery, but these sisters were willing to discuss, and we had a good time.  One thing I have to get used to in our church meetings is the constant drone of a translator in the back, helping someone to know what is being said.

In addition to a "good news minute" at the beginning of RS, there was a sharing table with books, packets of taco seasoning, fruit roll-ups and the like.  If you had something to give, you placed it on the table, and took what you wanted.  If the books had a name in them, then just read it and return.  Otherwise you could have it.  I thought this was a great way for those longing for things hard to find to have some cravings satisfied.  What a friendly thing to do!

After church, the youth were hanging out together.  They've already made friends. This is Ellie and Veronica, who is leaving this week for BYU-Provo.   And I think Ellie wouldn't mind departing for home now as well.

We are happy to have a church-family now.  We are grateful for our membership in a worldwide church.  The school the girls go to is about 2 miles from the church, and many of the parents and teachers have invited us to attend their Christian Fellowship group. I was so happy to be able to say, "Thank you, but we have a congregation of our own church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, right here in Tianjin!"

Some interesting things about our area...

We had heard that China is so dirty.  And I would have to agree that the air is pretty polluted.  As we drove home from the first day of school last week, I had to grab the camera and document the BLUE SKY. This was the clearest we've seen it here.  Usually, you can actually look at the sun without hurting your eyes, and can only see a quarter mile or less.   Here in TEDA, they work hard at keeping things clean.  A street sweeper goes by daily, as does a street washer--a truck spewing water with enough force that it wets down 4 lanes of asphalt at a time.  And pity the bicyclists who didn't have a chance to get out of the way.
   By the way, the yellow & red sculpture is in the middle of a huge intersection.

Not all the streets are 8-lanes wide.  The street that goes by the back of the hotel is 2 lanes.  Another thing I've been amazed by is the amount of hand-labor that is done.  These bushes are clipped with hand clippers.  At the side of the expressway going into Tianjin, there are flower beds and sculpted bushes. On our trips, we'll see a couple of vans parked (or a whole bunch of bikes parked), and 20-30 workers hand weeding, or doing some upkeep.  I understand that wages are low, so hiring a whole bunch of people isn't that expensive.

As we walked down this street, we heard a rooster crow!  Here in the middle of a megalopolis!  And sure enough, there were chickens being kept at one apartment.  As we took a closer look, there were rabbit runs by several of the ground-floor apts.  Supplementing their diet?  Or just wanting to raise their own food?

 I heard Obama praise China for their nice roads and bridges, saying America needed to follow their lead in spending more for infrastructure.  I would have to say that the roads are smooth and nice--but then, they are pretty new (at least for the 2008 Olympics). In 1994, there were only 2 expressways in the entire country.  Now, they are everywhere.  And what is built fast isn't necessarily built well.  This spot in the sidewalk is not rare.  You have to watch where you walk to avoid broken-up areas.  A friend of Kevin's at work got a broken collar bone when bicycling, when he rode over a manhole cover in the street and it disintegrated.  The workmanship in the buildings is sometimes appalling.  China might be a powerhouse, but they haven't arrived yet!

But there are some beautiful things (named Ellie and Alice.)  No, really, the Chinese do love beautiful things, and it seems that in an area like TEDA, where many foreigners live, they have a high standard.

 I wish I would have brought more dressy clothes.  We feel so casual, when all the Chinese are dressed so nice.  The women wear chiffon tops, or gold lame, or the kinds of things we would only wear for a nice evening out.  Here, they wear them grocery shopping!  And they are all so petite and slender.    

    And I finally dared take a picture in a clothing store.  If a shirt has English words on it, you can bet that it won't make any sense.
  Some of the shirts' sayings stop in mid-sentence.   Ellie is keeping track of some of the more interesting ones.  

But I think I'll remember this motto:  If you broke my heart, don't worry it.

Food Adventures...

Living in a hotel has its advantages--a great breakfast every morning.  Clean sheets and towels every day.  Someone else does the vacuuming and cleaning the bathroom.  

It also means that we get to eat out every night.  So the conversation goes something like this...  "Where should we eat tonight?"  Then everyone responds, "I don't know/care."  But once we select a spot, at least one person is dissatisfied.  That must mean that we have too many choices available!  And it is true.  We have a KFC.  A Dico's (which looks like a Chinese version of KFC or McDonald's--not sure which).  And some European-styled pubs with good food.  American food (almost).    One evening this week, as we walked to a restaurant, we passed by Nick's Mart, a small American grocery store, and it was having a grand opening. Apparently, here, such things are accompanied by fireworks and these tall conical baskets covered in flowers and ribbons.  At least there is no mistaking something grand happening.

We also went to a new grocery store and just had to try the blueberry flavored Lay's potato chips (very good!), and the mango-filled Oreo cookies (I think I prefer original white stuff in the middle of my Oreos.) We did not buy any Green Tea-flavored toothpaste.  The package had green on it, so we thought it might be mint, or even lime.  Here, if the packaging is green, it is green tea flavor.

We also passed on the sweet & sour fish soup-flavored Lay's potato chips.  I don't know if I'll EVER want to try that one!

Elizabeth was quick to notice the Mentos candies.  She has fond memories of them from France, and they are here too!

We haven't just eaten the safe, American-style food.  We've also ventured into a dumpling restaurant ("Ten Thousand Dumplings" is the translated name)--the girls and I gave it a thumbs down, and we ate at a noodle restaurant.

The food was actually very good, but it took a long time to eat our noodle soup with chopsticks.  And, it was very messy.  I'm still a neophyte as far as chopsticks go, and after a bit my hand starts to cramp up.  But I did eat enough to get full.  I did not eat my whole bowlful.  It was enough to feed three people!  We have found the portions to be very large with all the restaurants and we can either take home half of our meal, (and eat it for lunch the next day), or share a meal.

We find ourselves longing for a simple grilled cheese sandwich, or some homemade bread and soup.  We now have the key to our apartment-we just have to have our household items.  If it takes more than another week for our shipment to come, we might invest in some cooking utensils so we can begin camping out at the apartment.  Hotel living is beginning to get old.

First Day of School...

  The event that necessitated our quick move from Iowa--the beginning of school--occurred this week.  August 10, school starting already?  Yup!  Of course, there will be a week of vacation in October, a whole month at Christmas, a spring break...  I guess it IS necessary to begin pretty early.  And truthfully, hanging out in the hotel, especially when the VPN isn't working (so there is no internet), is pretty boring.  I think the girls were ready.
   We spent a day at the school a week ago, taking ITBS tests (to show English proficiency--most of the test-takers were Korean), and talking with the principal and teachers to assess the best classes to take.  

    Then Wednesday was the first day for new students.  I got to ride the "bus" in with them, because parents were required to be there too--to receive information and especially to get the parent code for checking up on their students' computers.

First, the traditional first-day-of-school picture in front of "our" front door.  And then in front of the non-working fountain by our apartment where the bus will be picking them up once we move.

By the end of the day, the girls had the major item that made this whole adventure worthwhile--their own MacBook Pro.

And now we are a 4-lap-top family.  

So, we had an adventure at the Great Wall, (and I don't mean the restaurant in Cedar Falls!)

   Saturday, August 6^th, at the end of our first week in China, we decided we were tired of looking at the four walls of our hotel rooms.  We’d had a couple of trips into Tianjin (takes an hour each way), and done some shopping at stores within a mile of the hotel, but it was time to get out of town.  The only problem here is that “town” never seems to stop.  Sure, there will be canals and fields, but suddenly there will be a group of 5, 10 or even 20 high-rises under construction.  The building going on is phenomenal!  From our hotel room, I can count at least 15 boom-cranes at the top of high-rises under construction.  And that’s just on one side (south of us). 

   Although it was still hazy (actually somewhere between fog and smog), with a forecast of rain, we decided to go see the Great Wall.  The touristy section of the wall is near Beijing, but there is a beautiful section closer to us, north of Tianjin.  It took about 2 hours to drive (by 6-lane expressway) to the mountains, which suddenly rise up out of the flat plains.  With the haze, it seemed they appeared out of nowhere.  It took another 30 minutes driving up a canyon (2-lane, winding road), with scrub trees at first, then cedars.  The vegetation was lush, but familiar.  There were fruit trees and tall corn, but the plots must be small family plots, for the trees were interspersed with the corn rows.  It seems that it would be more efficient to have a section for the orchard and then the corn, but apparently not here.  I know that you don’t want to buy vegetables at the roadside stands—or at least you don’t want to eat them until they are washed with soap, for the farmers here use “night soil” to fertilize their fields—and you don’t want e.coli from the human waste.  We did stop and buy some peaches.  They are safe to eat.

   An American friend told us about this section of the Great Wall, and recommended taking the golf cart ride to the top of the mountain and then hiking the wall back down to the parking lot; after all, the segment of the wall is only 3 kilometers.  That sounded alright to us, so we paid the $20 (a piece) entrance price and the $10 (each) ride price.  And even with that much money, there was no brochure to explain exactly what we were getting ourselves into.  And that would have been greatly appreciated! 

   We sat in the “golf cart”, which carried 12 people, and I’ve noticed that the Chinese are not overly concerned with safety so I thought it strange that they made sure the chain was locked on each side—so no one could fall out.  The ride itself was awesome—we had a driver who felt it his personal mission in life to beat every other car.  I think the last time I careened around corners with the air blowing in my face was when we drove up to float the canal, riding in the back of the pickup, with Grandpa Bailey driving.  It put me in mind of that good memory!  Even going that fast, it took several minutes to get to the top, which should have been an important clue, but we missed it.

  We were all ready for adventure after that ride, and the first thing to happen was a group of Chinese asked Elley and Alice to be in a picture with them.  We’d been advised that this would happen because blondes just aren’t very common. (The only hair colors available at the store are black, dark brown, and dark red).      

  From the drop-off point, it is a bit of a hike up to the wall, but once there, it was exhilarating seeing one of the 8 wonders of the world.  The section begins with the Wall going right into the side of a mountain.  Guard towers were situated every so often (1/4 mile, maybe).  We explored along that way for awhile, viewing both sides, and wondering why the wall was even needed here because the landscape below was so steep, it seemed nearly impossible that anyone would be able to invade from that direction.  But then we noticed that the slopes were slightly terraced, and corn grew almost to the base of the wall. 

About this point, we were ready to turn back and get a ride back down the mountain on the golf cart.  Without any kind of brochure, we thought we were probably over half-way, so we decided to continue on, after all, it looked to be mostly downhill from here.

This next section was nearly at at 45 degree descent.  The steps were about 12 inches deep.  And, does my face look red as I look at what we're going to do?  It's the old Scholes' trait I inherited from my English forebears who didn't know how to just sweat.  But believe me, before the hike was over, I had that part figured out as well.  Or maybe it was just the humid, heavy air.

We thought going UP the steep parts was bad, but we found out the going DOWN is even more painful.

And we're back on level ground.  Notice Kevin is carrying all the bags/backpacks.  We were all soaking wet, with wobbly legs.

We found out that there is a great visitor area and low-level section of the wall that we could have walked along without the herculean trek.

As we got into our car, we looked back at the bottom section of the trail, and remembered how nearly vertical it was.  

And, as of yesterday (Wednesday, Aug 10), we are no longer hobbling around.  I can now go up and down stairs without grimacing.  For a couple of days, I felt like a cripple.

So, if any of you come to visit, we'll do the easy section of the Great Wall of China.

And, if it is a clear day, this is what the Wall looks like.  

I'm glad we did it, now that I've fully recovered,

and I have great admiration for those who built it and those soldiers who patrolled it.  

They had to be in such great shape!