So far I have spent more money than I was planning on.
Having said that, we went to the Great Wall of China yesterday. What an amazing feat years ago. The guides can tell you that the emperor sent a bunch of guards and 300,000 laborers and the years it took but they aren't able to explain how all of those people were logistically supported in the mountains (that many people for a long, long time). Now that would be interesting.
Thankfully, the weather wasn't that cold while at the Great Wall. BUT, today we went to the Forbidden City which was the "main" palace of different emperors. It is 10 football fields by 7 football fields. Pretty big. Today it was below freezing but it was the wind that really made it almost unbearable. Wendy did pretty well considering her comfort zone. To top the cake, after we toured the city, we all went on a Rickshaw ride. No sides, no front, no escape from the wind.
Drivers are crazy and not mindful of pedestrians. Richshaw drivers are not mindful of automobiles. They need to be taught the lesson of "The Law of Gross Tonnage". I'm sure some of them have learned the hard way.
Spent all kinds of money at "Silk Alley". Bought nothing for any Family and Friends:)
Did buy a few outfits for the Boy and for Autumn and a couple of things for Wendy and me. Wendy is a HAGGLER. I was willing to pay $50 USD for a chinese style silk shirt for me, for her, a pair of "pajamas" for Micah and THREE sets for Autumn. Wendy kept holding out for $35. The salesgirl finally came down to $37.50. We had to walk away twice and the salesgirl kept calling us back. She finally gave in to Wendy and gave up the $2.50. I gave her the money and she made change but I had her keep the $2.50. I felt pretty bad. If you take into account my "hourly rate" from the US Navy, I figure I lost around $250.00 during the whole haggling escapade but I guess it is worth doing once (I actually did it in Israel back in 1984 and I wasn't any good at it then but I didn't mind upsetting some of the Palestinian men as much I did upsetting a couple of the young Chinese girls.
We pick up Autumn tomorrow.
Oh, I didn't get a T-shirt at the Great Wall but, for some reason, I decided to buy a painting from a student that is of the great wall. More important, she did one in each of the four seasons. Naturally, I picked the one that was done of Autumn.
Wendy will probably try to e-mail pictures. Depends on the computer situation at the next hotel.
