We got up early again this morning. After another buffet breakfast (same hotel, same choices), we boarded our dedicated bus shortly before 9:00 a.m. and headed to the jade factory (a quick-ish stop on the way to the wall). Before we left the bus, we were given "tickets" that we showed when we entered and when we made a purchase. This was our first "sponsored" stop, the places that subsidized the trip as a marketing tactic. It appears to be a government-owned factory, though I could be wrong. It was amazing watching the artisans sculpting the jade . . . (Notice how this guy is carving layers inside this ball!)
and polishing the jade.
Before going into the showroom, we learned a little about jade and jadeite. Jade is apparently a soft stone, while jadeite is a hard stone. In fact, jadeite is strong enough to cut glass. Jadeite is also believed to have healthy properties, mostly related to the heart, and is worn by many women at all times, including in the bath. It's worn closest to the heart, so if you have a bracelet (commonly given as a gift by a love interest at or before a wedding), it is worn on your left arm. Jade is sculpted into various forms, mythological or zodiac creatures, animals, or various shapes, with or without other meaning.
It was here that we were first introduced to Pixiu. Pixiu is the child of the dragon. Pixiu is known for having a huge appetite, but only eats money or things of value. Pixiu also has a big butt and does not poop. Instead, Pixiu stores all of the wealth in Pixiu's butt. If you have Pixiu, it is said that you will accumulate wealth. You must be careful how Pixiu is placed, though. The head must be pointed at your door so that the wealth only comes into your home. If Pixiu's head is pointed toward your neighbor's home, your neighbor will get the wealth! Pixiu can be male or female depending on which foot is forward. If the right foot is forward, Pixiu is male because men think they're always right!
Here is a side view of a huge Pixiu with another creature on top in the store. Mine is green and much smaller with no rider! My Pixiu sits next to the lucky cat we brought home from Japan. With both of them, we should be rolling in the dough! But, alas! The lucky cat seems to be waving goodbye as quickly as waving hello, and I think Pixiu has pooped! Money goes out as fast as it comes in!
They had a sale going on "just for us". (I'm sure of it!) Buy 2, get 1 free. I wanted Pixiu, and Chrissy wanted a green jade frog (in honor of my mom who loved both jade and frogs - Chrissy is a very thoughtful woman in spite of having been raised primarily by me!), so I bought a second lucky talisman so she could have her frog for free. The piece that was being carved and polished is called the happy family. It is a sphere of 8 balls inside of each other, all carved from one stone. All 8 balls are identical to each other and have very intricate designs on them which hold the happy spirits into the family of all 8 balls while the bad spirits just blow through the holes in the stone. I got one of the little tiny ones, but you can see the intricacy of the carvings on the larger one much better in a picture.
Then, it was on to the Great Wall. Chrissy and I had visited the Great Wall during our stopover on the way home from Japan a couple of years ago, so I checked with Nexus Holidays to see what section of the wall we would be seeing on this trip. When they told me we would be seeing the Juyongguan section, I briefly Googled it and found this page that indicated it would be a fairly easy ascent. I mean, it's the only section that is considered wheelchair friendly and suitable for handicapped travelers. It's #7 on this list of Great Wall sections.
https://www.chinahighlights.com/greatwall/section/
For those of you who can't (or don't want to) pull that up, here's what it says about the Juyongguan section:
Juyongguan — one of the greatest Great Wall forts
- Location: 60 kilometers (37 miles) from Beijing, 1½ hours’ drive.
- Features: The closest section to Beijing, it is wheelchair-friendly, so suitable for handicapped travelers. It is one of the greatest forts defending ancient Beijing. Genghis Khan once led his troops through Juyong Pass during his conquest of Chinese territory.
I felt quite confident in my ability to go up this section of the wall. I mean, a couple of years ago, I made it up another section just days after getting out of a CAM walker after blowing out the first of my Achilles tendons and only a few weeks before blowing out the other one! Yes, I've been down since my shoulder surgery, but I was getting back in shape from being down from both Achilles tendons before I fell and broke my shoulder, and part of my physical therapy has been working on my balance and core strengthening, trying to get me ready for this trip. I should be able to make this one, right?
Oh, so wrong! Only the bottom plaza was wheelchair accessible, though they did have handrails on the steps up to the first platform! On the section we took a couple of years ago, there was a bus that took us from the lower plaza up close to the cable car. I had to rest a couple of times to get to the cable car, but a motorized wheelchair could have made it up the smoothly paved road. From the cable car, the path was pretty steep for a motorized wheelchair, but there was a smooth-ish path beside the steps. The problem with getting onto the actual wall would have been with those 10 or so steps. Both Chrissy and one of the workers had to help me up and down those steps, but that was child's play compared to the steps this time (pictured above).
(Jan 2017, not this trip)
But here? They give you a gold-colored medal if you can climb all those steps to reach the top and actually walk along the wall! There were a few people who made it and one or two that actually climbed both sides while we were there. There were also a couple of guys who got engaged to each other on the wall. Me? I was more likely to get engaged than to make it up to the wall!! (They did both; I did neither!) Here's how far I made it!
All the way up to the first platform, back down to the overpass over the road, up to the second platform and up the steep section of flat paving. I gave up before taking the first steps up to the top of the wall. I had already hit my inhaler a couple of times, was dripping sweat (partially from pain in my back), and had taken several breaks just to get that far. Until then, I was feeling pretty proud of myself. I blame the pollution in part, though. If I go to the wall again, it will definitely not be to this section. I'd rather go to one of the easier sections to ascend and walk more of the wall itself instead of being exhausted just getting up there! This was the only really disappointing part of the trip, but it probably wouldn't have been if I hadn't already been to a different section with easier access to the top and more amenities at the bottom.
Chrissy was awesome. I sent her on ahead to begin with. She went up a significant part of the way, and then came back to get me. I tried to send her on up to do what she wanted, and she said she wanted to do it with me! Once I dried my tears of happiness, (I told you she's very thoughtful in spite of being raised by me!), she helped me up as far as I made it. Once I gave up, she took me back to that last platform and started back up. She didn't make it all the way to the top, but she went about half-way up twice, so I think that counts! I feel bad that she didn't get a medal for it, though. There were literally people on their hands and knees, crawling up the steps back to the first platform after trying (successfully or unsuccessfully) to get to the top of the wall!
Well, I've exhausted myself just writing about it. I'll pick it up from lunch next time!
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