Hooray for Friends!

In July we had our first visit from friends.  Nels and Sara Christiansen came to visit us in Beijing.  Since I am on summer break we had plenty of time to spend together exploring Beijing.  We even ventured out to places we have never been.  Here are some of our journeys.

1.  We hiked the Great Wall from Jin Shan Ling to Si Ma Tai.  This part of the wall is unrestored and not easy to get to from Beijing, thus it is quiet and beautiful.  We found a shady driver at the subway station and he drove us 3 hours to Jin Shan Ling and then waited for us at Simatai to take us back to Beijing.  When we first got to his car he was a bit dodgy and acting weird - he quickly told us to wait a minute since the police had followed us from the subway station (apparently what he was doing is frowned upon, Sara freaked out pretty good).  Anyway, he was a great driver.  I would use him again.  And if you ever come to Beijing PLEASE do me a favor - do NOT go to Badaling to see the Great Wall.  Spend the extra money and the extra time to go to Jin Shan Ling.  It is a 10 km (6 mile) hike to Si Ma Tai and the scenery is spectacular.  

2.  We went to the Antique Market.  It is not too difficult to tell the real antiques from the fake ones.  Either way it is an interesting treasure hunt

3.  As always, food was a part of the adventure.