The First REAL Day

So...we finally got a real day in China. What I mean by that is that we weren't flying for 13 hours straight, and we weren't so tired that we acted like 5 year-olds and did a lot of really strange, unfocused things. We got to wake up today at 6:30, which, for you Central Time Zoners is actually 5:30 at night. So, you ate, and we were waking up. Anyway,. we had breakfast in the hotel, which featured these really good rolls that we dubbed "cloud" rolls, because they tasted all light and fluffy.

After that, we shipped out on ther bus and went to a jade factory. We saw the construction of the 2008 Olympic stadiums on the way! (Honestly, not THAT interesting. It was just your everyday construction site.) So, we got to the jade factory, and got a short tour, followed by some time to shop in the store. I bought a little jade turtle. I saw that it cost 160 yuan. Well, that was the product number or something. It cost 300 instead. Oops...

Then we drove off and went to a factory that makes copper vases. It was pretty amazing, and EXTREMELY detailed. We ate lunch at the factory too. While we were in the shop afterward, there were a lot of odd things. For example, a copper horse. 2,678,000 yuan. Divide that by 7.5, and that's how much it costs in US dollars. I think that would cover all 4 years of college for me...There were also some Chinese health bells, which have a special place in my heart. Anyone reading this that went to Scotland last summer? Sorry...had to ask. Also, there were some fancy looking silk pajamas that Chase bought and almost wore to dinner tonight. More on Chase later.

We left the second factory, and bussed over to the Badaling section of the Great Wall (of China, that is). We played our concerts, which we were told were good, but come on, you don't want to hear about that, you want to hear about the wall. We climbed (those of us who have youthful energy that is, which excludes my mother) hundreds of steps up a mountain on the wall, and got some awesome pictures. I'm sure you'll see those eventually.

We returned to the hotel for a short break, and then went to dinner, which featured dancing and singing entertainment. Chase fully enjoyed that, which was kind of creepy. At the end, most people (except for Russ, because he's boring) got up and jumped over some bamboo sticks to a beat. By the way, there's still more on Chase. Next paragraph.

We came back to the hotel, and now have some time to hang out before we go to bed. Some people (including Chase) ordered massages. Mostly, it was the guys...Russ and I are going to knock on their room doors after I finish this. As for what else we'll do, we don't know, but we're having a good time. Tomorrow, we take the bullet train!

- David Thomases