Friday, April 15th

Friday April 15th)
I began my day with another morning jog and decided to run the Forbidden City loop which I had created earlier in the week. I again took my camera and tried to stop and get some photos to remind me of the sights I had encountered throughout these morning runs. As you look through the Photobucket pictures from today (day 5) the very first pictures are sights of the run. I had yet to see a fisherman catch a fish. I really had hoped to see the fish they were catching, but I must have not been patient enough. I took a picture of the school I ran by daily. It was too early for any students or parents to be entering as I said the traffic on the streets really did not start to pick up until closer to 7:00am. There were a couple of pictures I really wanted to stop and take, but felt uncomfortable. The military people that guarded the Forbidden City was always on maneuvers or their morning run. I passed a small platoon of soldiers practicing martial arts moves on command as part of this exercising. That would have made a great picture. The military always told us "no" when we tried to photograph them standing at attention during the day so I thought stopping to photograph them in the morning might be out of line. Besides, there were two or three soldiers standing guard the platoon as they were exercising. The second item I really wanted to photograph for memories was the older people exercising in the morning. They were practice their martial arts movements and stretch. Mostly men participated in this type of exercising. I felt it would be too rude to stop to photograph them during their morning routines. I really enjoyed my time to myself running in the morning. It was quiet and peaceful for Beijing and you can see from the photos I had part of the Forbidden City mostly to myself.

Our major focus of the day was a tour of The Great Wall of China!!! There is nothing I can put into words that would describe this accurately enough for you. All I can say is that everyone has to visit this at least once in their lifetime. Some highlights would include: The temperature was perfect at the mid 70's. There was not a cloud in the sky. The trees were blossoming beautiful white flowers which made for stunning views. Some unexpected realizations: The inclines and declines while walking on the wall were quite steep. There were several sections of steps which were almost like climbing a ladder to get into the guard tower areas. I will let the pictures speak for themselves, but you know that pictures don't accurately capture the feelings of actually walking on the wall. We spent a couple of hours walking on the wall and taking pictures. I hiked as far out as I could before I needed to turn around to get back to the group by our departure time. I hiked up the large mountain part of the wall as you look at the pictures. I was soaked from sweat by the time I had to turn around at the top. The wall continues as you know and I could have hiked all day and still would have felt like I want to see what is over the next mountain.

Our lunch was close to the wall with very similar food to what we have had all week. The food is becoming normal and I am acquiring a taste for the food. I am interested to know if the food will be the same in Xiaogan next week.

After lunch we went back to the hotel and I decided to tour the area close to the hotel by myself. I walked about 5 miles throughout the streets north of the hotel. The walk was my first experience I have had by myself in Beijing. I really enjoyed this as I explored the single room shops. These shops were not tourist shops like on the strip next to the hotel. These shops were where the typical citizens of Beijing shopped for their daily needs and food. I found a park during the end of my walk where many people were just socializing and playing. The men were playing a Chinese version of checkers as other men watched and commented on their play and seemed to be giving suggestions. There were other men using the square stone slabs we were standing on as canvases for their calligraphy. Calligraphy is an art form in China and these gentleman were artists! They were using a pointed shaped sponge on the end of a stick just like a massive paint brush. They would make a word or symbol and the other men would watch and comment on their work. Truly amazing and this required no money. I watched the older gentleman for over 30 minutes in the park. Again, please check out the photos.

For dinner, a group decided to celebrate our last night in Beijing with some American food. We went to one of the three restaurant style pizza places. We experienced great pizza and American music. It was great to have a taste of home. We all ate entirely too much pizza and it disappeared unbelievably fast!!! Another principal in our group from New Hampshire and I decided to walk the five miles back to the hotel through Beijing. See you tomorrow.

Questions: You will need to research to find these answers.

Why was The Great Wall of China built and who built it?

I walked 5 miles through Beijing. My average stride length(step) is 3 feet, How many steps did I take in that 5 mile walk?