Day 3

Our last day in Beijing was packed full from the time Sasha woke up at 3:30 am until now as we wrapped up our packing to leave tomorrow morning.   It was very smoggy this morning  which is how we remember this city, however it cleared up to a warm sunny day.   I am still amazed that Sasha walked the entire morning through Tiananmen Square and then Forbidden City in the hot weather.  Both were packed with people since these are the things the Chinese do on weekends.   Most people here carry umbrellas in the heat and so maybe it was because she felt so grown up with her new bright green parasol! We had a few good laughs as Mikelle and I were stopped numerous times to have our picture taken.   I don’t think it is because people thought we were famous! It’s just the blonde hair!
 Forbidden City was built for the Emperor and Empress and is named so because in ancient times the normal people were not allowed to come close to the area.  The picture of Chairman Mao is at the entrance of Forbidden City.  He started the one child policy but is honored by many in China for other laws he began.
After lunch we traveled to the Great Wall, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.   It is approximately 4,000 miles starting in the east running west along an arc that roughly shows the southern edge of Inner Mongolia.   At its peak, the Wall was guarded by more than one million men.  It has been estimated that somewhere in the range of two to three million Chinese died as part of the project of building the wall.
The climb is very steep with steps of all different sizes and lengths some being almost two feet tall!   It was a spectacular view with a breathtaking climb.  Looking around I couldn’t help to think what a magnificent God we have.
“When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” Psalm 8:3-4
We wrapped up our sightseeing with a stop at “The Cube” where Michael Phelps won all his Olympic Medals in the summer ’08 games and the “Birds Nest” Stadium which hosted the opening and closing ceremonies.  So that is all for today!   I am giddy with anticipation of what the next couple days will hold for us.  We depart here at 5:30 am for our flight to Hohut in Inner Mongolia.   Not much sleeping going on here!