Big day today starting with the Great Wall! It’s steep steep steep so caught up on some exercise…www.chinahighlights.com/greatwall/…and incredibly touristy and here’s me (the tourist!) withdrawing cash from the Great Hole in the Wall…
Then on to another sumptuous banquet style meal before heading to the summer palace. Talk of the Empress, (nickname Lan), made me think of ‘Raise the Red Lantern’ and I wondered if that was based on her.
Last but not least was the Silk Market and here things got a bit crazy. Overwhelmed by the smell of plastic upon entering (think shoe warehouse) I finally found the silk section. Amazing prints and beading…back down to the basement to check out “fakesville” and boy was it hard to find anything made out of actual leather. Euwh…great if your vegan I suppose!
Off to Shanghai tomorrow and some busy days coming up with the Expo. By the way the haze is not all pollution, apparently dust from the Gobi desert fills the air at this time of the year.
