Day 1 Beijing

It's technically day 2 here in Beijing. It's 4:47am and we can't sleep! We had such a big day yesterday that we are totally exhausted. We left at 9am and got back to the hotel at 7pm. Then ate supper and went to bed.
We ate breakfast at the hotel and met several of the other couples in our group. There are 9 couples in our group. We got on our bus and went to a Jade factory that showed us how to carve Jade and the different types and different qualities of Jade. It was very interesting. Then we went to the Great Wall. It was neat to see it in person after seeing so many pictures in books. There was A LOT of climbing and very steep and rugged/uneven stairs. Of course, Jeff took tons of pictures. I'll try to download pics in a few days. These first 2 days of the trip are the most busy because we try to get a week of sightseeing all in 2 days before we go to the next province where we pick up our girls. So we're completely exhausted. We then had lunch at The Friendship House for a family style meal. It was interesting if you liked to try different China cuisine. I, of course, stayed clear of anything I thought could possibly make me sick... so i had fries and bean spring rolls. :) Yes, they had american french fries on their family style meal probably for kids and people like me. Then we went to the Cloisonne enamelware factory tour. It is enamalware that was originated in Beijing during the Yuan dynasty. It is metal pieces - mostly very colorful detailed vases - that has 8 steps just to do the coloring. It takes at least 3 days to make one vase. Now they make everything with this technique probably to sell to tourists. They make Christmas ornaments, beads, bowls, etc at the factory store for purchase.
Next was the Beijing Olympic Stadium. It was HUGE and so many people were there visiting and taking pictures. We were able to go inside where the Opening Ceremonies were and the Olympic Mascots (as blow up figures) were inside so everyone could take pictures with them. Jeff loved this part. OH.. and we got to see the Water Cube from the outside which was just so cool for Jeff. We probably have 100 pictures of just that building! We also drove through the Olympic village and saw other Olympic buildings. It was so busy in that area... although it's busy everywhere in Beijing. Driving here is very similar to Russia. People just park wherever they want and the lines on the road are just "suggestions." Honking all the time and people just milling around in middle of the streets.
Finally, we went to the Chinese Acrobatic show. Our group of 20 made quite a scene walking in to the "VIP" section. The theater manager had to move an entire row of people so we could all sit down. There was quite a bit of yelling and staring! The show was amazing and lasted about an hour. I'll post pictures later. It's easier to explain with pictures. :)
We got back to the hotel around 7pm and had dinner in the hotel restaurant. I had penne pasta and chicken. YUM.
Today will be another long day.... After sightseeing all morning, we will be going to the airport to fly to Nanchang. That flight leaves at 4:30 this afternoon. I think it's only an hour and a half.
It's 5:10am now so i guess we'll start packing to leave at 8am.

I just called my dad to see how Grayson is and Grayson talked to me for 3 minutes or so. He was busy painting rocks with Elizabeth and just too busy to talk!