Beijing Day 2: More Great Wall and Olympics Sites

The next morning, we walked around the compound and took the girls to their favourite place.......

The Bamboo House

.......the Kids Club! And a very beautiful one too.

The main activity for the day was to bake a chocolate cake! Here were the girls in action:

The team

Done!

Yummmmm

While the girls were occupied at the Kids Club, Geoff and I went to explore a part of the Great Wall accessible only through the Commune. It is private and not open to the public and it is not restored. But to get there, we had to hike up a hill........

Not an easy task for me, but we made it up there! And it is totally worth it! Not a soul in sight. And the Great Wall just seemed to go on and on and on. If we had more time, we would have liked to hike out further.

A view of the Commune

On the way back to the city, we stopped by the Olympic sites, visiting (only the outside) the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube.

Finally, the Bird's Nest!

Even the lamps are shaped like a bird's nest


The girls found some fruity friends

The Water Cube

And then we just hang around the area between the 2 buildings. Did some people watching. Did what the locals do - eat pot noodles.

After the yummy (coz we were hungry) pot noodles, we made our way to District 798 - the up and coming art district.

The girls' first taste of local yoghurt

Finally, we end the day by checking into our city hotel - The Opposite House.

The Hotel Reception and Checking in Area

Hotel Lobby

Our room

The wonderful wooden tub (we can all fit in it!!!)