The Great Wall and more!

Our day going to the Great Wall was long, but good.  We still aren't adjusted yet, and are waking up around 1am and going back to bed around 3am and getting back up around 6am.  It makes for a tiring day. The Great Wall is about a 2 hour van ride from our hotel.  Our guide, Heidi and our driver, MasterLee were with us.  It's such a relief to have Heidi. She is such a huge help. She truly has the heart of a servant.  We talked most of the way, which was comforting because I couldn't dare watch the road.  The driving here is like nothing I have ever seen.  The lanes and signs mean nothing.  People drive wherever they want to, and however fast they want.  They pass wherever and whoever they want.  Pedestrians and bicycles are everywhere.  It's a wonder there aren't accidents all over the road and dead bodies scattered everywhere.  I mean, really, they come so close to hitting the pedestrians it's very different and scary.  I must say that The Lord has given us such a peace about so much of this trip, though.  His grace is so evident all around us.  
Beijing is very big.  It has 5 airports!  Although we drove 2 hours to the Great Wall, we were still in Beijing. The Great Wall is amazing.. There are 5 different areas you can visit.  Heidi said she took us to an area that is less busy than the others.  That was amazing!  THIS was less busy?  There were people everywhere!  As you walked up to the entrance there are street vendors all up and down the sides.  They are selling souvenirs, shoes, hats, fruit a little bit of everything.  
We walked up many stairs, and got quite a workout.  I had heard that blond headed people were popular in China but nothing could have prepared me for this!  Sterling and Trinity were like celebrities.  People would run up laughing and talking and touching them and trying to take pictures with them.  We followed Heidi's lead, so if she seemed to be ok with it, we were.  She earned our trust very quickly.  Sterling especially became quite fond of her.  
The Great Wall is amazing!  It is so big and so long.  I don't know what I was expecting, to see it is one thing, but to actually be on it, is quite another!  Heidi told us about the history of the wall and the emperor that brought all of the sections together.  We took a ski lift up the mountain to the wall and walked on it for a while going from watchtower to watch tower. Heidi said they didn't have iPhones back then (lol) so they would use smoke signals by day and fire by night to signal each other.  Certain number of puffs of smoke would mean the number of enemies approaching.  
It was quite a workout!  The stairs were very steep and jagged.  My treadmill exercise didn't prepare we well at all!  To get back down the mountain we took a tobbaggan.  We waited in line like a ride at an amusement park.  The guys that were handling the people were very funny.  They were joking with people and gave Sterling quite a hard time.  Trinity rode with me, and cutter rode with Greg.  Heidi and Sterling rode alone, so they went down first.  When it came time for me to go, the man stopped me and went before me on his own tobbaggan.  He was taking hot water down to all the workers for their teas etc.  So when it was time for me to go, I had clear sailing.  The people behind us were from California.  They joked with me and told me the pressure was on for me to go fast so they could too.  I did.  They didn't catch up!  Trinity was a little scared at first but then she loved it!  I did too.
The countryside on the way up to the Great wall was beautiful. If we lived in China, it looks like a place we would want to live.  The city is so crowded and the pollution is quite bad.  Multiply Birmjngham by about 20 and you might have Beijing.  But the country was nice.  Farmers working in the fields, and neat little fishing camps that were like campgrounds where people would set up tables and tents by their cars and fish.  They would then catch the fish and cook them right there over barbecue.  
One thing that was so interesting to me is the housing situation.  Heidi explained that land is very expensive and so most people live in apartments.  The people that do live in houses will live in one part and rent the rest or have a business in the other part of the house.  There are no yards at all.  I really didn't see many children.  They do have parks, so they probably go there to play.  When you get to see another culture and learn about how they live, you really get a sense of compassion for the people and an understanding of why they do things the way they do.  It seems so weird to us, but it's because we have it so good.  When we showed Heidi a picture of our house she said, "you have very happy life".  Yes, Heidi, we do.  I just wanted to take her home with us!  
But Heidi is married and has a child.  Ironically, her son has a heart condition like Fisher.  It's not the same kind, though.  Heidi said the government has recently changed the one child policy some.  It's still very restrictive, but better than it was.  Now, because her child has a medical condition, she would be allowed to have another one if she wanted.  I got the idea that she did not want to, though.  It's so expensive, and there is no room.  
We asked Heidi if she would like to come visit America.  I'm not sure if I understood her exactly right, but I think she said it was too expensive and too much paperwork.  She said you had to have a certain amount of money in your bank account to prove you planned to come back.  You also had to have a face to face interview and pay a large amount of money for the visa, passport and paperwork.  It seemed to me like if they had so many people they wouldn't mind if you moved away.  But it might be our government as well, like I said, I couldn't understand exactly what she was saying.  
We are in the plane on the way to Guangzhou now.  We haven't had internet since yesterday so I hope to upload this when we get to our hotel.  I am so thankful The Lord allowed us to come a couple of days early.  It's giving us a chance to get adjusted.  I can't imagine coming in and getting Fisher right away...we have been so tired trying to get over the jet lag.  
The kids are doing so well.  I have been so worried about it.  But our friends and family have so covered us in prayer. The Lord is leading and helping us every step of the way.