First of all, greetings to all my Brothers and Sisters in Christ who have been visiting our website and e-mailing us from all over the country! Prayer is the best gift you can give anyone and we are so thankful for all of yours. We feel such a covering right now that we have no anxiety whatsoever about the rest of our journey!
After a very short nights sleep we were up at the crack of dawn, dressed and ready for the breakfast buffet at our Holiday Inn. No need to worry about us losing any weight while we are in China, the food here is great and abundant . . . . . . any kind of eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, potatoes, fruit, fish, congee, cherrios, fruit loops, bakery, and numerous types of unknown Chinese selections. Not your typical Holiday Inn complimentary breakfast you get back home! After breakfast we were off to the Great Wall.
The Great Wall is a symbol of Chinese genius. It is described locally as a huge dragon that has been lying on the vast land for centuries that seems to just awaken. There is a famous Chinese proverb about the Great Wall, which says "Not been on the Great Wall, not a great man". Many say that the Great Wall is the greatest project in human history. The Chinese started to build the Great Wall in the 7th century BC for defense purposes with many states having their own wall. Under the Kingdom of Qin in 221 BC, the existing walls were linked together to protect the new China from invaders of the North. Today the wall stretches over 3700 miles long. Unfortunately our experience at the Great Wall was masked by fog, wind, rain, and hundreds of people. We could hardly even see it! It was so crowded that it was hard to even walk up to the towers. We finally decided to just come down and browse through the shops. Mom, you know how much Ken loves to shop (remember EPCOT, "Hey here's a shop I think we haven't gone in!") We couldn't even take any pictures due to the rain and the fog so we bought post-cards for memories.
It was our first "shopping experience" in China. When you enter a shop, someone follows you around the entire time, as soon as you touch, or pick something up they start to barter with you to buy it and are so relentless it is difficult to say no. I finally told Ken to stop touching stuff! We both are terrible at bartering. (Mom, this is definitely your territory!) Nothing has a price on it, they tell you how much it is, then it is up to you to get the best price by negotiating. We try to get the item a little lower but they look so desperate to sell it to you, we both look at each other then just buy it. We cannot get over the fact that we are so blessed with more than enough and want to help someone who is less fortunate than ourselves. Ken says just look at it as a donation instead of a purchase!
After Ken made sure we visited "all of the shopping areas" we found a quiet little coffee shop where not a lot of people were, to get out of the rain. I wanted a picture of us sitting there so I waited for someone to come by . . . . A young Chinese man started to run by us so I stopped him and asked him to take a picture. I handed him my camera then went back to the porch area. . . . right about then a flashback of the movie European Vacation went through my head. . . . when Chevy Chase hands his camera to a European for a picture and he takes off with the camera! After the picture I hurried off the porch to retrieve my camera. . . I don't think I will do that again. That would have been awful to lose the camera the second day of the trip!
Next we were off to lunch at the Friendship Cafe (more great food!) and then a tour of the Cloisonne Factory. Cloisonne, named enamelware, was originated in Beijing of Yuan dynasty and prevailed during the Jingai period of Ming dynasty. Cloisonne ware was originally only used for the royal families. It was the symbol of authority and status. It is the "everlasting art" and loved by people all over the world. We liked shopping here, all the prices were on the items, no negotiating necessary!
Right about now, the 3 hours of sleep we got last night is hitting us hard! Zhou announces we will have a one hour ride back to our hotel then an hour to get ready to go to the Chinese Acrobat show! We are so tired but really don't want to miss anything on our adventure. We decide it would be best to not push it and to skip the Acrobat show tonight for much needed rest. Ken says "Don't worry honey, I'll do some acrobats in the room for you!" I can't believe it, a man who is a great father . . . . loves to shop . . . . and now knows how to do Chinese acrobats! I am a truly a blessed woman!
The best part of our day came when we got back to the room . . . . an e-mail from my sister Sue! Drew, when we read your news we both immediately started crying. Tears of joy and thankfulness of course! You know how passionately we have been praying for you and asking everyone else to pray also. I knew God would make a way I just didn't expect it this soon! As always God's timing is perfect! We are so proud of you and can't wait to tell Anna what an awesome big brother she has! You should be soooooo proud of yourself as well. If you are still doubtful of the power of prayer in our lives. . . . now would be a good time to start believing! God is good, he's so good, he's so good to me!!!!
Time to go. . . . our activities start tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. We'll visit Tiananman Square, Forbidden City, Old Street Tour, Silk Factory, Dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe then a flight to Wuhan at 8:00 p.m.! All without the ability to take a shower and freshen up before our flight! Just one more day 'til baby makes three!
Hope all is well with everyone back home! We love you all!
Ken & Sharon
She looks innocent. . . she's really a ruthless negotiater!
The finished product for purchase. . . priced as marked!
View from hotel room window. . . missing all my coworkers at SVCH!
