The Great Wall of China!!!

  Beijing, China
Saturday, May 10, 2008

Today we finally hit up the Great Wall of China!  My planned camping from the day before had to be cancelled due to weather conditions, but today was a perfect day for a hike.  We hopped in Henry's car, which is a great story in its own right... So Henry drives a 2005 Jeep Cherokee, but it is actually a 1997 model because when Jeep released cars in China their manufacturing partner flat out copied the car down to the name and released simultaneously for half the price.  Only problem is that the guy doesn't have the technology to change the model so they are still selling the 97 version which has all sorts of kinks in it still from what I can tell! 

Anyways, back to that wall thingy... the signs on the road out there were priceless, but we finally made it to a section called Mutianyu. 


Who knew that the wall never really connected to form one continuous barrier?  Also, it was really ineffective against the Mongols in the 13th century and again versus the Manchu in the 17th century.  Well, I didn't so it was quite the learning experience for me.  We hiked up and down two sections of the wall, one that had been repaired to its former glory and one that was in such disrepair that we had to stop for fear of falling.  It was such a cool feeling hanging out on the wall and I can't wait to go back again and camp on it for real.  You can set up shop in the watchtowers apparently... who's coming with me next time?

Lucky for us we didn't have to hike down from the wall because this section features a most awesome luge down and the gang tore up the longest luge course I've ever seen! 



Back in Beijing after a 2 hour traffic delay (normal apparently) we revisited the hutong house for some bbq and beer pong.  Nicky and I took a two-hour break to go check out the Beijing Chaoyang Theater Acrobats and the show was very similar to a cirque du soleil show, but still really cool!




The night ended "early" and I was sooo dead by the time I hit my bed that I didn't even pack for my flight the next morning...