The Great Wall

Here the girls are at the base of the Great Wall. This was an amazing place to see, when you are here in person it is an unbelievably huge piece of architecture. The wall construction started about 2,500 years ago and has been updated and lengthened by different emporers over the years. About 500,000 people died during the building process (most were slaves). The girls really enjoyed seeing it and so did we. Just a tip: If you decide to visit sometime, I recommend going when it is not 90 degrees and 100 percent humidity. Wowsers, can't remember the last time I have sweat so much! :) This Chinese quote that the girls are standing in front of is a quote from Chairman Mao (founder of the peoples' Republic in 1949) that says "You aren't a real man until you have been to the wall"! The first gaurd tower with a view below. The wall isn't needed anymore to protect from Mongol attacks in the north and hasn't really been used for quite a while. Once cannons and modern weapons were invented it wasn't really necessary.

This gives you an idea how steep the stairs are to climb up, a good little workout!

View from the second tower up. You can climb much higher but the girls voted to stop here, everyone was hot enough!

We meet Elani in a few hours. Everyone is very excited!

Miggliacio girls:

The girls enjoyed reading your notes to them, thanks! Malea says to say "Hi" and she has been eating lots of noodles and sweet and sour chicken. The breakfasts are pretty western but the other meals are mostly Chinese. We saw some people in the market eating fried bugs. :)