Our guides also gave us some information about Beijing and Guiyang, the city we will visit for the bulk of our trip. The school we are visiting on Friday is in a rural area where the average income is only $64 per year. I cannot even imagine what that must be like.
We also learned some cultural do’s and don’ts including the kinds of gifts that are OK to give. For example, green hats should not be given to men as it means their wife has had an affair. Also, clocks are never given as gifts because it reminds the person of their own death and is seen as bad luck. Our delegation met as a group after this briefing to more fully introduce ourselves and to discuss how the meetings will go later in the week at the conference.
Our next stop was lunch and a bit of shopping at the Friendship Store which is close to the section of the Great Wall we were going to visit. The lunch was great! We did not have to eat anything that was too weird. I did not buy much at the store but some people went a bit crazy!
Finally, we were on our way to the Wall for 2 hours of climbing.
It was tough going as the steps were very uneven and steep. But, what a great view and a wonderful feeling to realize that I was climbing up the Great Wall. It's another one of those things that you have learned about all of your life and then suddenly, there it is!! Wow. Let me just say it again, WOW!!
As we got to the top of one section and came down the other side, there was, of course, a souvenir shop with t-shirts, certificates, and a hero card all stating that “I climbed the Great Wall”. I opted for a $7 piece of metal that has a relief of the great wall and says I climbed it in English and Chinese. They engraved my name and the date on the other side. It is really kind of cool and I will keep it in my office. I hope those people don’t climb up there everyday to go to work. Hopefully they have an alternate way that is a bit easier. The views from this area were also very good. I can see why the wall worked to help keep enemies out. I would have hated being a soldier defending this section.
Coming down the steps was harder in some ways because of the uneven steps. I could breathe easier going down but the knees felt it a little bit. As I was coming down several people stopped to talk to me. One gentleman from Indonesia asked to take a picture with me which I did and then he wanted my picture with a Mongolian man who was also there. I did that too. It is kind of weird being stared at all the time.
After our exhausting climb, we went to a Beijing duck dinner. I have never really liked duck before but this was really good. It did not have that gamey flavor that I have always tasted in the past. We had lots of things to go with it. We had lemon chicken and all kinds of vegetables. One of the dishes was fried roast duck with scorpions. Yes, scorpions.
I think if I had not seen all the legs, I would have been able to try them but the legs really turned me off. Several people at my table tried them and said they were just crunchy and had no real flavor. I’ll never know.
On our way back to the hotel, we drove around Tiananmen square. It was closed for the evening but at least I can say I got to see it. The picture of Chairman Mao is still on one of the gates gazing out over the whole of the square. There are some government buildings around it and of course, Chairman Mao’s mausoleum. Our guide told us that people still go visit him, out of respect. He said that even though he started the cultural revolution, the people have now forgiven him and pay their respects.
What a packed and exhausting day. Tomorrow, we fly to Guiyang in the Guizhou province for our forum on education.
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