The Great Wall was incredible. Definitely my favorite thus far (I'll probably just keep saying that) but really, it was humbling and amazing. The part of the wall we were on was built during the Ming Dynasty and the whole wall stretches more than 4000 miles. We did dinner at a local woman's home that night in the older part of Beijing. She actually lived in a house that was built during the Qing Dynasty (China's last dynasty ending in 1911), her grandparents owned it and her grandfather was a painter for the Imperial Court. It was small on Western standards, the whole house was probably the size of my mom's kitchen and laundry room combined, but for the Chinese this is a fairly good sized home. It was a good reality check and a reminder how fortunate we are. The next day before flying out we stopped at the "Temple of Heaven," which my friend Christina and I are in front of in the picture. It was somewhere between -10 and -17 degrees Celsius, which was COLD! We flew to Hong Kong right after that and it was in the 70s Fahrenheit there which was great! I went out with friends to the bar scene and ran into a friend from LA. I saw him in San Diego before leaving and I knew he would be in Hong Kong but hadn't talked to him since, and then I was just walking around between bars and there he was! Small world! On our way to Vietnam now, we will be there day after tomorrow! Enjoying the warm weather.
Also, Happy New Year! Today (Sunday February 11th) is TET the Vietnamese New Year! Chúc mừng năm mới
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