The Great Wall

September 8, 2008, Beijing, Monday

Today, the Great Wall! We actually finally slept-in (til 7), then did the now familiar Wukesong/Metro route to T-square, walked its western periphery to the "Tour Bus Dispatch Center" (west), where we bought tickets for the Badaling section of the Great Wall. Finally, after all these years of ridiculing people on tour buses, we are riding one. (I stand by the ridicule). The bus was full, we were on the back row with three eastern European men. There were two German women from Cologne, the rest (50) Chinese. The ride through the northern half of Beijing was something. A mega-city of high rises, mile after mile, five-story shopping malls, sky-scrapers. Many kilometers beyond the 5th Ring Road, it began to thin, even to turn briefly buccolic (fruit orchards mostly). Then we turned into the dreaded jade factory/showroom. It was interesting to see the exhibits about jade, and also interesting to watch our travel companions shop. Our rule on this long/lite trip, is "take only photos, leave only footprints," so we didn't buy anything. The family-style lunch (soup and 8 dishes) was not enticing, and neither of us pigged-out exactly. The more we saw (and heard) the less we ate.

The Great Wall itself was about what you see in the documentaries. Today was exceptionally cloudy, low-cloudy, and there were no distant vistas. Lush, mostly deciduous vegetation everywhere, mountains to 5,000-6,000 feet by my estimation. After the obligatory sliding car ride up, we climbed about the various towers and walls, took some pix, and descended back to the car/bus park, feeding the bears along the way. (Bears in concrete pens whom you can toss apples to for 3 yuan). I bought a small bottle of rice "wine" (50 proof) for the ride back, but couldn't figure out how to open it. (I did later). The tawdry, commercial aspect of the car park was comparable to Cherokee, NC.

So what to make of the Great Wall? Impressive for sure. The experience is somewhat numbed by the masses. This is the world's most popular tourist site, and, in order not to be trampled by exuberant picture-snapping Chinese, you don't have much time for contemplation. But it is truly wondrous, even the few miles (of the 4,000) you can see, obligatory, and we're happy we did it. Been there, done that. Might do a different section next time.

We got back to the Sheraton early (for us). I did some shopping at the Lotus (giant supermarket in the giant mall four blocks away). Take-out Chinese for dinner. More travel research.

On the Great Wall, north of Beijing