Olympic Venue, Cloisonne Factory, Great Wall and Silk Market...‏

Today was another full day of activities. We went to the Bird's Nest and toured inside - it is huge! We were able to walk all around and climb to the top seating area; truly amazing! Then, we walked around the park area for a bit; there is a broadcast tower where all of the TV stations reported from and the water cube, but that wasn't open for viewing. Next, we drove to the Cloisonne Factory and saw how the beautiful vases are made. They also make amazing pictures, ornaments and other items as well. We had lunch in the restaurant there, it was a little better than yesterday. Once we were done eating we headed over to the Great Wall. It is an amazing site!

There really is no way to describe how incredible the wall truly is - the climb was so steep! There were many people feeling winded along the way and stopping to catch their breath. We certainly had to catch ours from time to time, too! The views were amazing and the thought at how old the wall actually is is mind-boggling.

We decided to try bargaining at the silk market; we were able to buy Jadyn two beautiful traditional silk dresses for about $12/each. We hope that is a good deal:)

We made it back to the hotel at about 6:15 and crashed while waiting for our guide to bring the CCAA representative by to finalize the bill for our Beijing part of the trip. They arrived around 7:50 and it only took about 15 minutes; he explained that we are to check out of our hotel room around 9 a.m. and meet him in the lobby at 9:15. They will take us to the airport, get us our tickets and see us off to Guiyang for our 11:15 flight which will take about 2 hours. We will have a driver waiting for us there, but we do not know where we are staying or when or where we will meet Jadyn. We are exhausted so I think we will sleep tonight even though we are extremely excited about the activities coming tomorrow!

I will be sure to post pics right away - well, as soon as possible:)