The Great Wall

Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Beijing, Beijing, China
. Tour to the Great Wall 
Woke early and after noticing that the day was dawning with rain again I reassessed my wardrobe and opted for my heavy coat for the rain, a long sleeved top in case the promised fine weather eventuated etc. but by the time I left the rain was gone and I went to wardrobe option B.
I then set out to walk to our meeting point at a more upmarket hotel about 30 mins away. After getting hopelessly lost (very unlike me) each of the last two days I was determined not to repeat this and had a screenshot of google maps route etched in my head and on my phone! Technology and I triumphed and I made it in good time, met my fellow travellers and took the obligatory toilet break and we headed off.
A word about toilets - clearly this is a big issue when there are so many people. In the areas where have encountered lots of people such as around the tourist spots and in the streets around my hotel which is where people live in very modest dwellings, there is a public toilet every 100 metres. Some are a bit stinky but they are all tended by orange overall clad cleaners regularly. 
The same applies to the streets and public facilities which are tended to the last detail by people in uniforms. After each downpour street sweepers are getting rid of puddles, often there is someone picking up rubbish and this morning I saw a man wiping  down a rubbish bin! Needless to say, everything is very clean despite some of the infrastructure being a bit shabby. But not so on the major roads and freeways, which are first class with immaculate gardens beside and in the middle of each one. The number of trees is amazing - but too bad the smog means the blue sky is just a blue tinged greyness!
Our guide William gave us some history of the Wall and the unification of china which resulted in each of 6 kingdoms and the emperor linking up sections to create a fortified border. The section of we will visit is My Tien You ((no idea of the spelling but I am confident that Google can reveal all). 
The 1.5 hour drive to the wall was in heavy traffic despite leaving at 7am to avoid the worst of it. Lots of interesting buildings and a fair bit of open space along the way... and hundreds of people heading off on scooters (no helmets), pushbikes and electric bicycles. All very summery. 
Out of the city there was farmland, with small swarms growing lots of different crops in small amounts. The guide told us farms are leased (the government owns all the land in china, but farmers can rent their land out and farmers pay no rent. There were a lot of either small seeming to struggle or failed small businesses with a lot of dilapidated buildings dotted here and there and a few small towns. Not much traffic as it was still early.
On arrival at the first Great Wall ticketing place the guide bought entry tickets and we proceeded yo the hill in the bus. At that point we were told that other than walking up the very steep hill to the wall we could buy a cable car ticket (one way 100 yuan or return 120, and an option for return was a bobsled for 120). We all opted for the cable car up and possibly the sled down (later I decided to walk which was steep but well made, but cooler and about the same distance as on the wall once I was half way back).
So straight into the to the ticket office and no waiting into the cable car and a short, steep rise to nearly the top. More climbing (a taste of what was to come) and onto the wall at one of the high points in this area (tower 11). Lots of photos along the way tell the story. 
We turned left and our challenge was to make it to tower 20, with 18-20 being extremely steep and very challenging. So 17-18 was very do-able which was where I set out for. Apart from the crowded conditions including a lot of pushing and shoving, kids with no idea that they had to share the space, 31 degree temps in full sun, steep ups and downs which no railings on the frequent, very steep, narrow stairs up and down, it was fabulous. 
The wall is truly amazing and set on the top of extremely steep hills must have been pretty much impenetrable at he time when bows and arrows were the main weapons. The towers consisted of many small rooms, lots of fire places and of course turrets. But when my phone rang I was reminded of being in 2017 not hundreds of years ago!
I got to tower 17 and figured it was time to head back as tower 6 and the sled was quite a way to go and it was 10.30 and getting hotter. By the time I got past tower 11 where the cable car empties and the crowd was getting extremely heavy, I looked at how far it was to tower 6, measured my energy level and made a snap decision to take the path down. 
Bless someone but as the path done descends through the cool of the forest a small stall was selling drinks and ice creams. So I paid through the nose for an icecream and cooled down a tad before setting out. It was a long, steep and many steps path, but the path was very new (by comparison with the wall!) with a railing, forest was cool and the birds were noisy! I only wish I had counted the steps from the top.
On the way down I was continually surprised to see how many people were attempting the tortuous walk up (I wondered about the cost for some) but when I got to the bottom and saw that the queue for tickets and the cable car was about 400 meters long, I understood why. While it was only about 12 noon, these people would not find their day at the wall as much fun as I did. Note though that the day before yesterday the wall was closed because of the torrential rain, and the day before the fog was so heavy that the visibility was  down to a couple of kms so there were no magnificent views as i experienced.
The first coffee shop called me loudly (I didn't have a coffee yesterday!) with great wifi so it was a chance to check emails and use the loo (though by now the squat toilets were playing havoc with my knees) before meeting up with my tour at Subway (yup!). When we were all gathered and after we congratulated those who made it to tower 20 then came down the slide, we hopped into the bus and headed off for lunch. Lunch was delicious Chinese fare, washed down by beer and in good company of 3 other Aussies (2 who will be on my tour from tomorrow), an American and a Brazilian. 
After lunch into the bus for the 1.5 hour trip back to Beijing - the same roads as our journey out. Some new sights from the other side of the road but much the same.
Back at the starting point I opted for a wander around the shops and bought some fruit, stocking up some supplies for the overnight train on Wednesday. Then dawdled back to my hotel ((having some empathy for my knees, though my hiking shoes did serve me very well today!) without getting lost - a first!
In a garden on one corner near my hotel I stopped to photograph a compact 125cc scooter done up in a leopard print with a cute carry case. A young man in uniform (a sort of guard - they seem to be posted on a lot of corners - I must ask what they do/who they are) approached me and told me it was his bike. I told him i was very impressed and he liked that I wanted to photograph it. I explained that I was a motorcycle rider and he asked where I was from etc. then I fished out my phone and showed him a pic of Ginger - hopis eyes widened and he said WOW! And asked if I really ride it! (I didn't mention how crummy I am). Showed him Hilary too and he liked that too. 
Back to the hotel and more doing battle with the staff about the elusive stamps. The girl in the business centre insists that Chinese don't write letters or postcards, even tough the receptionist showed me some yesterday with stamps on them. Unbelievable! I can't wait to leave China and give some feedback to the hotel - I figure it's best not to do this before I cross the border..
It waa time for a shower and change, dither for a bit with a beer in my room, then to the Alley Coffee Shop for a green salad and fruit salad for dinner. Yum. Into bed for another peaceful 8 hours sleep. 

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