Day Five: The Great Wall and Zhengzhou

After gorging ourselves one last time at the breakfast buffet, we checked out and loaded up the van at 8:30, venturing out to the Great Wall of China for a half day of hiking, listening to Riley whine about hiking, and then hiking some more. 

We visited the section of the Wall known as Mutianyu.  It is a little further from Beijing than the other frequented sections of the Wall. It took us about an hour and a half to get there. There were many visitors but the volume of people was definitely less than other historic sites we visited in Beijing. 

Mutianyu is a beautiful little village.  I loved it!  After parking, we headed up the hill to the ticket booth and Helen helped us buy our tickets.  It was a holiday weekend so we didn't have to pay for Riley, which was a plus. We headed to the restroom before moving toward the starting point for our hike.  NOTE:  The men's room has a squatty potty but the women's bathrooms had toilets here.  Nice!  Don't forget the toilet paper.  Dean scolded me for not telling him there would be no paper.  Oops!  Sorry, Dean.  I hope everything worked out okay in there.  :)

We purchased tickets for the chair lift up and the toboggan down.  I was a bit nervous about Riley and the chair lift, but he hopped on like a champ, no problems.  It was a bit scary because there was nothing really holding us in the chair.  The lap bar kept hopping around, which was nerve wrecking.  The ride wasn't long and we hopped off with no problems. 

Helen left us to explore the wall, and we agreed to meet back in 2 hours.  We didn't make it 2 hours.  I knew we would have some whining from Riley about the hiking, and we fully expected to carry him up and down the Wall.  I even thought Tate would whine some about the amount of walking, but he didn't. I think he was so excited to be in China and to be at the Great Wall that he endured without attitude.  Both boys did much better than expected.  We only had to carry Riley for one stretch toward the end.  . 

The wall is so impressive, beautiful and unbelievably well preserved - well, it was before my boys began lifting bottles of Great Wall dirt, pebbles and loose bricks.

There are venders everywhere selling overpriced water, trinkets, t-shirts and snacks.  Dean got a kick out of this t-shirt with a familiar face on it. 

After an hour of walking, we bought the overpriced water and snacks and sat down on the stairs outside the wall for a bit before heading back to Helen. 

There was family visiting the wall that was fascinated with Riley.  They kept taking his picture and pointing.  It was a bit very freaky. When we went to pass them, the grandfather bent down and started to talk to Riley in Chinese.  Riley nodded at them like he could understand, and the man picked him up and posed for a photo - family members' cameras snapping away.  I almost snatched him up and ran, but Dean grabbed his camera and started taking pictures of their family, too.  It was hysterical, and a bit very freaky!!!  I asked Riley what the man was saying and why the man picked him up, and all he said was, "I don't know.  I guess they think I'm so cool."  Little ham!

After the photo session violating everything we've ever taught our children about strangers safety, we headed back to Helen.  The toboggan is very cool!  There were people in front of us going slow,, and my boys were disappointed that they couldn't go very fast.  I will probably have to hear about this for the rest of the trip!  They're speed demons and try to make every activity a dangerous activity.  If you are going to take the toboggan, go as slow as you can without having a guard urge you on (pull the lever toward you), giving plenty of space between you and the person in front of you.  Then when you get to the curves and long, downhill stretches you can push the lever all the way forward and go very fast.  Also, keep you hands inside your little cart.  You can break a phalange on the toboggan track….I know this from personal experience.  A recent conversation with our orthopedic surgeon regarding Olivia's broken toe came in very handy this afternoon!

NOTE:  If you are considering bringing little ones with you on this trip, bring with you advanced coping skills and an extra measure of patience…or some really, really good medications, properly prescribed by an appropriate practitioner, of course.  Now we all know that psychotropic meds are frowned upon in the China adoption process, so start now working on those coping skills.  Breathe deeply, count to ten a hundred, practice your calm and soothing voice and exercise those affirmations or you will go CRAZY!  I mean CRAZY!  There's a lot of walking for little feet, a lot of whining and a lot waiting around.  Little ones get tired, their feet hurt and they get bored.  That being said, Riley is doing an AMAZING JOB all things considered.  Dean catches my eye at times and does some labor breathing for me and it's all good.  It just hasn't been all easy.

After we finished at the wall, we had a nice lunch at the Schoolhouse Restaurant.  The Schoolhouse is a sustainability project in Mutianyu.  It was very nice and the impact that it is making on the community was inspiring!  The price for four sandwiches, three sodas and a milkshake was HIGH (600 RMB - Yikes!), but paying it was easier knowing the impact of the project in the village of Mutianyu, I think.  

Following lunch we headed directly to the airport for our flight to Zhengzhou.  Checkin was uneventful and the wait for our flight was made much more enjoyable by a nice children's play area.  Riley made a new friend named Henry who is 6 years old.  They ran and played ball together and enjoyed Tom and Jerry on the TV.  Laughter is the only common language required! 

Our flight was short and we arrived in Zhengzhou just after dark.  I had my first squatty potty experience in the airport in Zhengzhou.  It wasn't that complicated, folks.  Just remember to keep your feet on the platform and you'll be fine.  Expectations are everything!  If you're prepared for the worst, better than the worst won't seem so bad, I guess.

Celine met us at the arrivals area and we headed to the hotel.  During the half-hour ride, she filled us in on the ins-and-outs of Zhengzhou, the hotel, the plan for tomorrow and the location of the 7-11 store.  (It's not really called the 7-11, but that's what it looks like). 

After checking us in Celine left us for the evening.  Seeing the crib set up in our room almost brought me to tears. 

No time for sentiment, though.  My men were hungry!  We headed to the 7-11 and then had noodles in our room for dinner.  Tomorrow is our big day.  Wyatt will be in our arms by 10:00!!!! 

Night, folks!