China - Day Three (already!)

So ... before I start regaling how mindblowing the Great Wall is (have to find an alternative to 'amazing!') something to make you smile. It could only happen to me, the girl who is always approached by tourists for help/directions, strangers etc...

I was all dressed up last night and decided to go out and find a restaurant for dinner and walked down the road past Raffles Beijing (resisting the tempatation to pop in and recreate the Raffle Singapore Sling moment!) and found a completely mad shopping experience, flashing neon lights everywhere, huge TV screens mounted on buildings etc etc. It was at this point I realised that I had left all my money in the hotel so dinner was a no go.

As I mentioned last night, I have loads of people either staring at me or just saying 'hello' or 'hi' - much to my amusement now I've become accoustomed to it - anyway 3 girls said 'hello, how are you?' and suffice to say we ended up chatting for quite a while before I was invited to join them and visit their university to view an exhibition of their art work (it was at this point I realised they were art students!!). Beautiful work, stunning paintings and a very unusual experience!

Anyway, this morning was an early start with a 3 hour drive to the Great Wall at Janashling. This is a quieter area of the Wall and most of the Wall is original whereas the area near Beijing has been renovated so many times it's practically been rebuilt. The weather was much better than yesterday, still very hot but clear blue skies and fluffy white clouds.

I have to admit that we did take the cable car up (and in the heat at 11.30am I was glad we did). You are accompanied by a local farmer who is trying to make a living by selling you souvenirs or helping you over the difficult parts of the climb and we spent a lot of time laughing at my attempts at chinese! I have now been taught to count to 10 as well as a few other phrases/words - sure it will come in handy at some time.

The views are out of this world, the wall stretches on as far as the eye can see and the area is so mountainous; you can understand why so many people died during its' construction.

I've attached a couple of photos as words really cannot do it justice ... and I know all the photos will look the same view of the Wall to everyone else, however I can tell you that those I took represent every ascent/descent and tower to me! The steps are uneven, some steep, some shallow, some narrow, some wide and many times this morning I was scrambling up on my hands and knees. When I was likened to a monkey about 45 minutes in, I realised I had no shame left!

Luckily the descent after the 11th tower we reached (BTW I hope you're impressed by the distance that I covered?) was easier and a gently sloping road down the the one restaurant for lunch. Local speciality fish, beef and a hot melon side dish (I thought of you Kate!). Just pity my quad muscles tomorrow morning ....

On the way back to Beijing we stopped at a speciality cloisonee factory - enamel and copper work which is found in the imperial palaces and then at a tea house to experience a tea ceremony.

The tea ceremony was enlightening - just myself and the guide again; I never realised that different teas had so many medicinal powers too. Having stocked up on the "real thing" we made a detour to see the Beijing Birds Nest Olympic Stadium which is being built (the sense of pride about the Olympics in 2008 is almost tangible) and then it was time to experience the Beijing rush hour and finally back to the hotel at 7pm.

Here's hoping that tonight I remember to take my purse with me as I step out for dinner!!

Tomorrow's schedule is the Summer Palace and internal flight to Xian (I think!).