Olympic Park

Our last stop for the day was to visit the Olympic park.  Sight of the 2008 Summer Olympics.  By this time we are all exhausted!  It is also getting colder and colder outside and continues to snow!  The girls fell asleep on the bus so Ken went on the tour without us to take a few pictures.

Hot sweet potatoes for sell from a sidewalk vendor! We will take 4 please!

Good night from China!

Cloisonne

Our next stop was Cloisonne Factory and one of our favorite places to visit in Beijing!   Cloisonne, named "enamelware", originated in Beijing during the Yuan dynasty and prevailed during the Jingtai period (1450-1456) of the Ming dynasty.  It's typically called "Blue of Jingtai" as blue was the dominant color used for enameling.  Cloisonne ware was only for the royal families.  It was the symbol of authority and status.  It is an amazing art and loved by people all over the world!  Shu Shu thought her Art teacher Mr. Neubaurer would love to see this!  It is all hand made from copper and enamel paint.  We got to view artists at work, then shop in the store.

This hat was just too cute!

Jade Factory

The girls loved learning about Jade.  We learned that there are 30 different colors with different meanings.  Green is the most desirable.  You can tell if it is real or fake by holding it up to the light. If you see a flower it is real if you see bubbles or nothing at all it is plastic or glass.  They sometimes will mix Jade with plastic or glass to make it less pure.  Pure Jade is a very expensive stone.  A bangle bracelet will cost you $800.00 American dollars.  The statue of a soldier next to Uncle Zhou and the girls in the picture costs $80,000.00 American dollars.  I am so glad Jie Jie paid so much attention to the demonstration and was able to remember all these facts for me!

Day 2- Great Wall of China!

We are definitely struggling with the time difference here.  We were all up at 3:00 am China time and unable to return to sleep.  We know we will have a long day ahead of us.  We met our travel group down in the lobby after more Chinese food for breakfast!  Our guide Zhou has a very busy day planned for us visiting the Great Wall, a Jade Factory, and our favorite place the Friendship Store where we will learn about how Cloisonne is made.

Unfortunately it is colder than normal temperatures for November here and is snowing today!  Our first stop is the Great Wall.  Before departing we learned some interesting facts:  It was built to prevent invasion and to protect the silk road trade route more than 2,300 years ago.  It is 13,170 miles long and crosses 9 Chinese provinces and municipalities.  

• Chinese name: 长城 (Chángchéng /channg-chnng/ 'Long Wall')