THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

A few days ago, our TTC group had another fun filled tour day that included a stop at the Great Wall. We hopped on the bus early in the morning and took the nearly 2 hour drive out of the city and into the mountains to the Great Wall. As soon as we got off the bus, I could not believe my eyes..I stood face to face with one of the greatest wonders of the world. Looking at it, it seemed as if it wouldn't be much of a challenge to climb up the hundreds of steep steps to the top but I soon found out how wrong I was. The section that we were at stretched straight up the mountain face and there wasn't really much of a flat spot to get a bit of a break. We climbed up past watch towers and looked over the walls at beautiful mountains littered with bright green shrubbery. I was so out of breath from the steep gradient and the polluted air, but it felt amazing to finally get some exercise! We stopped up at the top to catch our breaths and take it the great view of the wall we just climbed which stretched across the mountain side and into the valley then started to head back down. I think that for the first time ever, getting down was the harder part. My legs were shaking and some steps were extremely steep. When we got to the bottom, a lady with her little boy in arms came running towards me and handed me her son (a little startling) so that she could get a picture of him with me. It was a pretty special moment to have, especially when still feeling the adrenaline of climbing the Great Wall. A few of us broke down and purchased  an oh so touristy "I climbed the Great Wall" t-shirt (in my defence, it's a pretty cool accomplishment) and then headed back to the bus to continue on into the city.

The next cool stop of the day was to Hou Hai lake and the Hutongs. The Hutongs is a section of small old houses that were the standard back in the day. The homes had communal bathrooms and kitchens shared by all of the residents. Today, some of the buildings look to be still inhabited but others have been converted into small shops, restaurants, and bars. We got the joy of riding around this area with rickshaws, which was definitely the way to do it. Cycling down the narrow streets was a great way to take in the sights, especially when we made it to Hou Hai lake, a beautiful lake littered with paddle boats and shops, cafes, and bars all around. It was a great atmosphere and neat to see these traditional Chinese buildings.

We finished the night off by heading back to the hotel and drinking lots of pijiu before going out to Mix, a Chinese club to dance the night away. It was a great end to yet another amazing day in Beijing!
Cheers!