Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving! The last couple of days for us have been pretty awesome, especially Monday since we conquered the Great Wall. Well, not all of it, but we did manage to hike 10kms, from Jinshanling to Simatai, which was probably the best hike we've ever done. It took us a few hours to get out to the starting point, and of course, being us, not without a little excitement. As we got off the bus in Miyun, the usual routine started: we were harrassed by minibus/taxi drivers wanting us to get in their vehicles so they could take us the rest of the way to the Wall. We waived them off and headed toward good old KFC for lunch before leaving. However, one guy was so persistent that he followed us into KFC and waited for us to finish our lunch. I managed to squeeze by him without notice and hired a taxi while the girls waited in the restaurant. We got our stuff and headed for the taxi, but man, was this minibus driver pissed! His entire tone changed once he realized we snuck a ride with someone else, and he continued his persistence followed by aggression and trying to physically push us away from the cab. Obviously, it didn't work, we hopped into the cab and drove off. Our taxi driver was a nice old man, so calm and quiet, and such a difference from the usual. He agreed to pick us up again at the end of our hike in Simatai. As we got up to the first tower to start our climb, we were met by two lovely old women, telling us a bit of the history and following us. It was nice at first, but they wouldn't leave us alone. They then proceeded to try and sell us postcards and books, "Give money, we go home!" is what it came down to, but we were able to shake them off and continue our climb without further harrassment. The climb itself was so incredibly amazing that it literally takes your breath away. The Wall snaked across mountains as far as you could see, we had perfect weather for our hike, and it was completely tourist-free. It took us 3 hours for the 10kms and we were alone for more than 2.5 hours of it. We took some amazing pictures (courtesy of Amy and her camera), so make sure to check them out (we'll have them posted soon, and trust us, at least two of them are worth the wait). We ended our climb just as the sun was setting - perfect timing - and thankfully we didn't have to climb in the dark. We couldn't have asked for a better day!!

Today we went to see the Mausoleum - the site where Mao Zedong's body lays on display in Tiananmen Square - weird! and we also purchased a camera!!! We hope the quality of the pictures are better with this one, and we'll post some pictures with it as soon as we get it up and running. Tonight we say "Zaijian" (goodbye) to Beijing and leave on the train to Xi'an - the home of the Terracotta Warriors. But, not before having our belated Thanksgiving dinner - our substitute for turkey will be the famous Peking Duck!