On Thursday, we packed up our bags and got on the bus for a long ride to the Great Wall. The ride was a few hours, but we broke it up with a few stops along the way to see the Badaling Wild Animal Park and Ming Tombs.
The Badaling Wild Animal Park should probably be called the “sort of wild, but not really” animal park. Like most zoos outside of the US that I’ve been to, the conditions aren’t fantastic. The local tourists throw all types of food at the animals (especially the monkeys). With that said, it wasn’t horrible and the kids did enjoy seeing the animals and you do get pretty close – when you drive through on the tour bus, the lions and tigers are walking around right outside.
The kids at the main gate of the Badaling Wild Animal Park
Lions right outside our bus...
... hold me Maile, I'm scared!
Maile walking a little piglet
Despite the lions, tigers, bears, monkeys, etc. – by far the most popular attraction at the Badaling Wild Animal Park were … the two white American kids that spoke Chinese.
After the Badaling park, we drove a bit more and stopped at the Ming Tombs. The tombs are a collection of imperial mausoleums built by the Chinese Ming dynasty emperors. There are a bunch of them and you can actually spend a good amount of time hiking around them and even going in a few. With the kids, we kept it simple and walked a bit down the Sacred Way which leads up to the Tombs and is lined on either side by huge stone statues (many of animals).
Family shot with one of the stone elephants lining the Sacred Way at the Ming Tombs
Goofing around on the stone animal statues...
We learned that the red cards in the background are wishes that people brought to the Tombs...
Skipping down the (not) yellow brick road...
Maile and Her Amazing Family!
After running around the Tombs a bit, we finished our journey and arrived at the Schoolhouse at Mutianyu, right near the Great Wall where we would spend our final two days in China. The Schoolhouse is an incredible “eco-retreat” at the base of the Great Wall. It was founded by two ex-pats. The houses we stayed in were amazing – beautiful and large – kind of had a Tahoe house-type feel to them. The complex also has a restaurant and a glass making shop – all staffed by local villagers. Michelle Obama and her daughters recently visited and had lunch there. It was really a great spot – highly recommended if you find yourself traveling to Beijing and want an incredible experience at the Great Wall!
The chalkboard at the Schoolhouse at Mutianyu that tells a bit of the story of the founding...
The original plan was all three kids were going to sleep on this big couch bed - good plan in theory, but when game time arrived Maile wimped out 🙂
After a long day, we headed to bed to rest up for our final day in China and a hike along the Great Wall…
(Click here for the video.)
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