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Published: June 24th 2013
Met up with the other travellers on the 'Wild China' tour in Beijing with an initial trip out to the monumental Great Wall, visiting the Mutianyu section dotted with Ming dynasty forts. A steep stair climb up and along the wall was rewarded with misty yet atmospheric views as it meandered over the ridges and hilltops. Exploring beyond 'Fort 23' reached a section slowly crumbling in on itself and overgrown with trees and bushes, enjoying the eerie solitude before returning to the tourist bustle for a well-earned pancake. That evening watched a Chinese speciality acrobatics show, impressive feats of jumping, spinning and bending were followed by 4 motorbikes simultaneously speeding around the inside of dome, fractions of a second from crashing into each other as they pirouetted...
Next day caught a bus to Tiananmen Square across rainy Beijing, queueing to join the thousands of devoted Chinese filing past Chairman Mao's curiously waxy looking body in the mausoleum, ushered quickly along by stern security guards. Headed on to the Forbidden City, with its grand halls, gates and carvings, but also heaving with throngs of tourists.
Leaving Beijing squeezed into a slow overnight train to the ancient capital Xi'an, 3-storey pairs
of bunks crammed into each compartment. Wandered around the Muslim quarter with its market stalls and discovered the Great Mosque with its interesting fusion of Islamic and Chinese styling. Later burnt off some energy biking around the old city walls, bumping over the cobbles and passing giant red arty snakes. Headed east of the city to the famous Terracotta Warriors, spread over several giant pits and carefully arranged in their army formations complete with horses and chariots, each of the thousands of statues with its own unique features...
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Misty Great Wall
Graham
non-member comment
When you say Live...
Tell me they were not actually alive! You just saw them live, as in there, right? And the same goes for the starfish & sea horses. Graham