Beijing - The Great Wall

Arrived Beijing late on Saturday night. Flight from HK had few passengers, so had plenty of room and good service. Got a taxi without problem and headed into Beijing. Had the fun of a minor taxi collision - out driver back-ended another car. So, we watched while our driver shared a smoke with the other driver and while the other driver had a long conversation on his mobile. After 15 minutes, our taxi driver patted the other driver on the back and we were away. I think that accidents are common in Beijing - probably because road rules are seen as "suggestions".

Hotel is OK; but it is three star, so we can't look for a palace. Met our tour leader - a nice young bloke called Franco. He's from Camberwell and is doing a PhD in Criminology at Melbourne Uni, who is taking time off to lead some tours.

On Sunday, we were off to an early start with a 7 am departure for the Great Wall. We had a breakfast bag from the hotel, which contained a dubious boiled egg, a runny yoghurt and a soggy tomato and brown lettuce sandwich. The drive was planned for 3 hours, but took 4.5, largely due to diversions and accidents (see comment above regarding Beijing road rules). We arrived at Jinshanling, about 110 km from Beijing. We had a steep climb up to the wall. We walked about 4 km along the wall, which is quite spectacular. The Wall snakes across the landscape, largely following the ridge line, with towers every 150m or so. The Wall has been restored in places and in others remains in its original (somewhat crumbling) state. The views are great and the countryside around is hilly and green, with little sign of habitation.

The climbing isn't easy. It is either steep slopes or steps. We decided to limit ourselves to the 4 km out and the return. Others continued on (a total of 12 km) to Simatria.

We took the bus to Simatai and had lunch at a "farmers restaurant". Food was fine; beer was great (and well earned). Meet the others who had treked there and bussed back to Beijing.

Peking Duck dinner that night with the tour group.

The group currently consists of a couple from Forest Hills, a lady from Christchurch (actually returning from a stint in Japan), a guy from Switzerland. A couple from Canada joined on Monday morning, with two more (from NZ) to arrive later.