Cuti - Cuti Beijing - Part II

We started our 2nd day tour by heading to the Great Wall. On the way, we stopped at Jade Factory. We listened to another explanation on how to recognise the quality of jade. We browsed around the store and I got myself a jade to make a pendant. It was okay to buy stones here as you could only find finished products outside.

At Jade Factory

 We continued our journey to Badaling Great Wall which is a few hours drive from Beijing. The Great wall has 5 entrances and Badaling Great Wall is one of the parts that is well maintained. It was freezing cold.( We even saw snow in a drain! ). On the way there, we could see people climbing the stairs of the Great Wall. We were really impressed at those who made it to the top as the climb was very steep towards the top. We managed to climb to the 3rd base. ( There are 5 bases at this part of the Great Wall ). Actually, we were quite impressed with Hubby who managed to climb with us to the 3rd base since he has knee problems. The trick to climbing the stairs... Don't look back or you would't be able to proceed. We encountered this Eurasian guy who was so scared that he had to turn back..:-) Ada sorang tu sampai ketaq lutut when we reached the 3rd base..hikhikhik..As for me, I'm quite surprise myself that i could climb that far since I lacked exercise. Another trick is, have a good rest at each base to catch your breath before the next climb. There were a few ladies who climbed the stairs carrying their kids. I really salute these ladies!

At the entrance of Badaling Great Wall

1st base 

2nd base

3rd base

 After taking a lot of photos at the Great Wall, we headed back. We stopped at the cloisant factory where we had lunch at Golden Palace restaurant & had our zohor prayer there. Then, we were introduced to the Malaysian owner at the Jewellery City just in front of Beijing 2008 Olympic National Stadium. At the jewellery city we were offered  huge discounts on the items since they said we're Malaysians. I'm not sure how true it was..or is it the same gimmick for everybody?..Hmmm..But, we did't buy anything there. I'd rather buy something in Malaysia at my trusted jeweller.

Cloisant Factory

Our lunch at Golden Palace Restaurant

Beijing 2008 Olympic National Stadium

Then, we were treated to tea- tasting. Since I don't like tea, I just took a sip or two of a few types of tea served. Before our dinner, we were given a taste of shopping at Sanlitun Yashow Market. Didn't have much time to shop as our dinner was booked at 7pm. But, we got an idea of the price range & how to bargain.

Tea-tasting

Our dinner