Old and new Beijing collided when we visited the Great Wall and the Olympic Park built for the 2008 Summer Games.
The two landmarks were highlights during our second full day of the trip we’d booked through Rewards Travel China.
Unlike our first day on the tour, everything except supper and an optional evening show were included in the price we paid for the trip. In fact, we were required to go to everything on the itinerary today.
We set those alarm clocks again! The day began early with the included continental buffet at our hotel.
The buffet is massive. Its not like those offered at hotels in the U.S. You’ll find everything from toast, cereal and fruit to dozens of hot dishes on this breakfast buffet. No worries, even picky eaters will find something to eat. After breakfast, our group of 40 loaded onto the tour bus. We rode several blocks to Olympic Park.
If you watched any of the summer Olympics in 2008, you’ll recognize the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube.
The two buildings sit next to each other on the sprawling grounds. The Bird’s Nest hosted the Opening Ceremonies for the 2008 summer games, as well as track and field events. Now it hosts other ceremonies and events.
The Water Cube is where Michael Phelps set swimming and medal records in 2008. It’s now also used as a national stadium to host different types of events and competitions.
The buildings weren’t open, but we were able to walk up to them and snap pictures. After a relaxing stroll through the park, we were back on the bus.
The next stop was one of five reasons we were able to get this trip for such a low price. It’s going to be super annoying for some travelers. After the stop at Olympic Park we drove to a jade “factory.” When I say factory, it’s really just a massive jewelry store.
An employee ushered us into a room where we listened to a sales pitch about jade and the great deals they offer. Yup, a massive sales pitch. We just stood back and relaxed. Our guide, Amy said the stop was mandatory. We listened to the pitch and actually kinda learned to tell the difference between real jade and fake pieces. There were also some IMPRESSIVE jade carvings sitting around the store.
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After listening to the sales pitch, we ended up in the jade jewelry store. Prices here range from $20 into the thousands.
We browsed a little, but we weren’t required to buy anything. We found seats at the bar in the back of the store and enjoyed a couple of cold drinks. The beer and soda cost 10 RMB a can, or about $1.50 each.
The bar is near a stairway. After everyone else finished shopping we went upstairs for lunch. We sat at tables with eight or ten people from our group. We were served dozens of dishes. I’d love to tell you exactly we ate, but no one ever told us! I can tell you that there are chicken, beef and fish options. If you’re vegan or vegetarian, don’t worry. Just tell your guide. He or she will make sure you have food to meet your dietary restrictions.
Ladies, you are also going to want to take advantage of the restrooms offered here after lunch. They are western style (meaning that there is a toilet bowl and you won’t need to stand and squat) and they had toilet paper.
We ate our fill and were happy we did. We certainly worked it off during our afternoon trip to THE GREAT WALL!!
The wall is 3700 miles long. Its so big and long, it can be seen from space. Because of the size of the wall, are many different access points to it. Each point is in a different state of restoration.
The bus took us straight to Juyongguan. This is one of the sections of the wall that’s been fully restored. It also means it’s one of the easiest sections to climb.
This stop is one of the reasons we chose this trip. It’s also the reason the majority of the people with us said they decided to make the trip.
In my opinion, this is one highlight you do not want to miss. Even the gentlemen who relied on wheelchairs to get around the rest of the trip saved their energy to climb part of the wall.
Climbing the wall comes with a warning, according to our guide Amy. She warned us that we didn’t want to push ourselves too much. She said to take as many breaks as we needed and warned that we shouldn’t do more than we were able to do. There are hundreds of steps to climb, but each step is technically part of the wall. Even if you only climb a handful of steps, you can brag that you climbed part of the wall. How cool is that?!?
I will warn you that while going up was tough, coming down was even more challenging. Many of the steps aren’t the same height. They actually range in height from several inches to more than a foot. Make sure you have enough energy, and time, for the descent and to reach the bus.
We were exhausted by the time we filed onto the tour bus. Some of our group still had an optional musical, “The Golden Mask Dynasty” to attend that evening. Tickets cost an additional $50 per person. Again you can pay for these before you leave on your trip, or pay after you arrive in Beijing.
Since we didn’t buy tickets for the show, we decided to walk the three blocks to a mall near our hotel. I was surprised at what we found. First, it was nearly deserted. I don’t know where 1.5 billion people go, but apparently it isn’t to the mall. Second, it was pretty much like shopping at a mall in the US. We passed stores like Nike, Gap, Tommy and Starbucks.
Take my advice and skip the mall. It’s just like shopping in the US. We even made a stop at McDonald’s for dinner. We left the mall and somehow got turned around. It should’ve been an easy three block walk back to the hotel. Hahahaha. Ours wasn’t. We walked in the wrong direction for three blocks. Then we turned around and headed a different direction that we thought would get us back to the hotel. It didn’t. After wandering around for about 45 minutes we became stuck in Olympic Park. We tried to return the way we came, but kept running into locked gates. AAARRRGGGHHH!! We eventually freed ourselves from the Olympic Park maze. Then I just started asking random people for directions. Of course I don’t speak Mandarin and I couldn’t find anyone who spoke English. I eventually just started showing people my hotel keycard. After a lot of pointing, we ended up at our hotel and fell into bed for our final night in Beijing.