April 17, the Great Wall of China

Certainly one of the highlights of our trip, we drove for about 90 minutes out of Beijing this morning to see the Great Wall of China. There are sections of the wall which are closer to the city, but we were taken to an area where there are not quite so many tourists. The location is called Mutianyu, and from the car park you walk up a long slope, running the gauntlet of retail opportunities, and then climb into a cable car for the journey to the top of the ridge. From there you can walk left or right for as long as you like. We spent about an hour up there and walked through about half-a-dozen watch towers in that time. It really is spectacular and hasn’t been spoiled by the Health and Safety Gestapo. Some of the sections are quite exposed and steep, and in the UK I’m sure that railings would have been erected everywhere. Here, they just let you get on with it and you just have to be careful. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Retail opportunities on the climb up to the cable car station.

The Great Wall. The watchtowers are two arrow flights apart, so no section is left unprotected.

Our guide, Jack, chatting to Jen on the Wall.

After a pleasant lunch in a local restaurant we returned to the hotel. On the way back, Jack announced that he would like us to have supper with him and his parents tomorrow evening at his parents’ apartment, which, he warned us, was pretty basic! We’re frightened to death by the prospect of what might be on the menu, but it’s a rare opportunity, I would think, and is bound to be interesting. We just need to sort out in advance what the etiquette is on these occasions (do we take flowers, wine?). Jack also warned us that his dad likes a drink, and he was glad to learn that I liked a beer! Don’t know what to expect, really!

After resting for a while back at the hotel, we walked off to have a look at Tiananmen Square (huge – we’re being taken on a proper tour tomorrow) and then walked south of the square into the back streets of the old city. These were quite interesting, but it’s obvious that many tourists like to do the same thing, and so all the tourist tat offerers have moved in as well.

At about 7pm we jumped into a cab to visit San Li Tun “Bar Street” which is supposed to be full of expat bars and eateries. Well, we couldn’t find any bars that we liked the look of, but did find a decent restaurant with a bar attached, so the evening was rounded off nicely.

Jenny’s bit: We got ripped off by the taxi drivers both to and from Bar Street, plus the first one put us out in the middle of a busy dual carriageway and left us to take our chances climbing over the central reservation (not very high) and crossing to the other side. Jx