Beiing - Day 2: The Great Wall of China and Jade Factory

I was overwhelmed this morning at breakfast at how so very different life is here than at home.  There is almost NOTHING we have in common….even the plates passing by our table loaded down with what THEY usually eat for breakfast is WAY different than what we’re used to.  We think we’re being adventurous to eat a bit of fried rice and congee, but there’s some STRANGE (to us) stuff on that buffet.  I mean, if Joe won’t try it, it’s DIFFERENT.  But this morning, as I thought about the differences, I kinda became weepy at the ONE THING we all have in common – we need Jesus!  Joe and I talked about how kind and hard-working the people are, but it makes us sad to know that SO MANY of them don’t have an eternal source of JOY! GOSH, how do you make it through life without Jesus?  I have no idea.  And it makes me so sad.  So while Joe fixed his third cup of coffee and Mary chowed down on her usual boiled eggs, I just prayed over that restaurant that was filled with people from all over.  I prayed that the Lord would send someone (Me?  Joe?  My boys?  My girls?  Who knows?)  to tell them about Jesus.  Lottie is named after Lottie Moon, a long-time missionary to China who had a love for two things – China and Jesus.  OH how I love those two things, too.  And OH how I pray my girls will share that love!  PRAY FOR CHINA, y’all!  Cause I’ve got two birth mothers that I NEED to see in Heaven so I can point to their girls and say, “Look at what we share!  THANK YOU for blessing me with precious daughters!”  We will be the best of friends for eternity – but somebody’s got to tell them about Jesus!

Alright.  Day 2.  Again – from Joe’s journal with Mikki’s commentary in bold.

Another great breakfast at the hotel.  I could Eat. Here.  Every.  Day.  That coffee is the sweet nectar of the gods that Ron Swanson speaks of. (Parks and Rec reference for the boys)  We had some time in the room before we needed to leave, so we were able to jump on Periscope and watch some of Max’s Northridge football game! (Thanks Dr. Fairburn!) So GREAT to be able to see #57 walking around and playing on the O-line while we sat in our room in Beijing, China!  

We met up with Nathan and Becky and set out with Helen and our driver to the Great Wall.  It was a couple hours away, passing very quickly, and STILL IN BEIJING.  The drive was neat to see all the different styles of architecture on the many buildings and construction going on, bridges being built, and again, all the many roadside workers. (The area around the Great Wall is countryside.  It’s known for the FRUIT that grows there!  Everywhere all along the route, there were tables set up with folks selling the fruit they’d picked that morning!  Helen was telling us that people come out and rent cabins or rooms and are able to pick the fruit, go fishing, hike – basically spend some time outside the city. There were little “resorts” and hotels and campsites all along the route that would pop up out of nowhere.  Folks would be standing at the gates waving flags encouraging you to come on in!) 

This is Beijing as we were driving out toward the country.  There was a neat park below with so many people exercising or strolling.

Neat part of the park....see all those blue tables?  PING PONG tables!  Everywhere!

Tons of fruit stands along the way.....

First glimpse of the Great Wall of China!

Pop up hotel/restaurant where you can stay at the base of the mountain

Another hotel/restaurant

All the driving techniques are hilarious.  Nobody is startled by anything, passing is very casual. (and very often)  Even pedestrians are not alarmed by closely passing autos. (Helen was saying that people over the age of 70 are not allowed to drive vehicles, so they are ALL OVER THE PLACE on their little bikes and mopeds…. Or, my personal favorite…. The little woman will be driving a scooter with a basket in the back where the little man sits and rides!  I keep trying to get a picture but we are always driving WAY TOO FAST.)

 Anyway, we got to the Great Wall area, and had to trek up a ways.  (As you get closer to the base of the mountain, the resorts and hotels get nicer and nicer!) Helen helped me stop and buy a hat.  We walked up to the ticket area with Helen and she got us through pretty quick (then a quick stop in the bathroom – and our first encounter with a SQUATTY POTTY.  Mary was beside herself.  Luckily, we started looking around and found a few stalls with “sitting potties”….. and thankfully, Becky had a pack of tissues – cause NO toilet paper anywhere. I’d forgotten about that!  Now, Mary is begging me to let her use the next squatty potty we find.  I keep telling her it won’t be as fun as it looks, but she’s stubborn, so we’ll see…..)

 Then we got in line for the ski lift to get up to the top of the wall.  I rode with Mary and we held each other TIGHT – just in case.  I’m normally a little queasy about heights, but Mary and I did great together.  Helen led us out to a common area where we took some traditional tourist photos.  (Mary said ALWAYS – type that we ALWAYS take photos, Mom.)  Helen then led us to a certain area along the wall and turned us loose.  The Wall is just hard to describe – it is so magnificent and took nobody-knows-how-long to build and built by hand with slave and military labor. (Helen was telling us that there were MANY villages that lost almost all of the men and boys because they died working on the Wall.  It’s SO HARD TO BELIEVE what the conditions must have been like!  The scenery is breathtaking, but climbing up those mountains to work on the wall – good grief!  She was also telling us that there are special groups you can join that trek across the entire length of the wall.  Kinda like the Appalachian Trail….. she said the group always includes a doctor, an expert hiker, a guide for history, and a HUNTER because of the wild animals you encounter on more remote parts of the wall.  Don’t think that’s gonna ever make it to my bucket list, thankyouverymuch.) Watch towers and special internal rooms and paths that go up and down, some climbing on steps sometimes, some walking on flat paths for a while, downhill sometimes – just a variety.  And gutters on the side for water!  Engineering marvel!  And just beautiful with SO MUCH history.  Some cannons are still posted at strategic locations and just imagining the soldiers there keeping watch to keep invaders away was amazing.  We got SO MANY good pictures and even ran into a couple from our plane ride!  Once our time on the wall was over, we rode down on a toboggan.  (Mary and I rode together and she squealed the whole time!  There are men positioned all along the way telling you to slow down when a big turn is coming – they’d just be sitting there in the woods on the side of the mountain sipping their tea – always sipping their tea – and Mary would call out Ni Hao! ) SO COOL.  I got great action videos – hilarious. 

We then took a quick ride, pretty much on property to the jade factory where we met a beautiful sales manager named MARY!  We got a great picture of her and our Mary together.  We were given a very neat demonstration of the jade process and saw an elder artisan building one of those family jade balls, the kind where there are three balls inside each other – all made out of one piece of jade. (The guide mentioned that almost all master carvers were elders because the young generation doesn’t have the patience to learn such an intricate, painstaking trade. Joe says sort of like title insurance.) We then stepped into the showroom.  Mom’s goal was to get a nice jade bangle for herself and Aunt Paige, who sent money for jade and pearls, and pendants for Mary and Lottie.  We immediately zeroed in on two beautiful jade crosses for the girls.  Maybe we will present them on the day of baptism or another special day?  Then, to the bangles.  That same Mary was helping us.  Mom had a certain budget in mind, but Helen basically already told us that wasn’t enough. Since Mom is worth INFINITELY more than the cost of these bangles, I’d encouraged her to get something nice. Mikki was determined, though.  (SO MUCH COMMENTARY HERE:  I’d told Helen and Sales Mgr Mary my budget and they both started shaking their heads.  Said that whatever I got at that cost would be fake.  So I told them to bring me the things they had closest to my budget that weren’t fake – I’d like ONE STEP higher than fake.  She quickly said OH!  I have some nice quality on clearance.  YES – bring me the clearance!  She slipped a bangle on my hand faster than I could grab the pricetag…. But once I got a glimpse of it, I was like PLEASE HURRY AND TAKE THIS OFF OF ME.  No way, lady! So I pointed down and said I NEED LOWER.  She huffed and sighed, grabbed that tray of bangles, and went back to the counter.  She came back, slipped another bangle on my hand and said she’d give me a great deal.  This one was WAY more than the first!  I figured something had gotten lost in translation – so I used BOTH HANDS and pointed DOWN and said – NO…. LOWER COST.  She did NOT look happy and told me I was not going to get good jade.  I told her it was fine – no one around me would know if it was good or not.  She grabbed the tray, slipped another bangle on my hand and I bout lost it – this one was EVEN MORE!  Y’all.  We are talking CRAZY EXPENSIVE.  I was sweating, stressed, and getting annoyed.  Joe was very calm.  He said to her that we understood that she was trying to give us a good deal, but that we needed something for less.  At one point, he was ready to sacrifice a kidney and told me to just get it – that’s when I said NO WAY – I’ll just not get anything – I’m not paying that much money.  THEN, Salesperson Mary got busy – she miraculously found some good quality jade (Helen confirmed) for the right budget!  Yes, lady – my mother is the QUEEN of the bartering at yard sales and I know a thing or two. We walked away with a beautiful bangle for the right cost. And then Guide Mary took our kid Mary into the back room and presented her with a BEAUTIFUL doll as a special gift.  Very nice since you about gave me a heart attack.)

This lady done met her match with the jade bartering situation.....

Can you spot the FAKE bangle?

After settling up, we were allowed to eat at a nice buffet upstairs.  It was a nice quiet lunch because everyone was so tired.  Again, Mary held up so well, she gets very animated at times and then totally crashes at other times.  Once we got back to the hotel, after a nice long ride and some naps – Mary fell flat out of the backseat onto the floor one time – and nice conversation between Mom, Becky, and Helen, Dad visited the store next door to buy water and cokes.  Then, he made a stop at the corner bakery.  I picked up just a few treats.  We were able to stay up longer today, thankfully, so we were able to have a long night’s rest. 

(As we walked back to the van from the Wall, Becky and I were talking about how we’ve been having so much fun, it’s almost easy to forget that in a couple of days, our lives will completely change!  Now that the Beijing fun is over, it’s time to move on to our next city. Tomorrow we will ride the bullet train to Zhengzhou – Lottie’s province.  Helen said that she is in PingDingShan City, which is two hours away from Zhengzhou, so she will be brought to that city on Monday morning.  In TWO DAYS, we’ll meet our girl.  Blessings upon blessings upon blessings.  Y’all pray for all the families meeting their babies on Monday.  We are nervous and scared and anxious and unsure and hopeful – prayers for PEACE and LOVE to wash over everyone in those rooms!  I’m praying so hard that Lottie will just relax in my arms and start letting me Mama her.  I can’t wait.)