It was pleasant just to walk around the city, although most days it was quite hot (30+ degrees C) so we had to keep the fluids up, not unusual (and actually probably necessary) to drink 4 litres a day!
We walked on the old city wall and then decided to rent bikes. Scott and I in a two-person bike and Jill in a single biked the whole 13km perimeter while Alan and Donna watched the kids and fed them ice cream to try to keep them cool and amused. Here's a picture of Donna and I in the "bicycle built for two " (which she sang as we rode!) as well as Scott riding beside us.
A real highlight for me was getting to go climb Mt. Hua, one of the famous mountains in China, with Scott and Jill. Alan and Donna graciously agreed to watch Eli and Dana for the two days and one night that we were away. It was about a 6 hour climb and we stayed in a motel at the top. That way we got to see the sunset AND the sunrise. No, this is not your regular mountain climbing or hiking experience, there are stairs all the way up, a gondola if you want, as well as vendors selling you water, fruit or instant noodles. The prices went up the higher you went.
My favourite picture that Scott took is below. Look at the sunlight ribbons streaming through the clouds and the little traditional Chinese structure on the edge of the mountain. Gorgeous.
We also went to see the famous terracotta warriors and other museums as well as an infamous art gallery that had art (and not a lot of it) stapled on the walls. It was my idea to go there as it was a rainy day...the consolation was that Eli had a large circular area to run around on pushing the stroller and that we went out for pizza afterwards!
