The Great Wall

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Yesterday I needed to check out of the hostel I have been staying at and make my way to the vodkatrain hotel near the city square. Rather than paying for a taxi, my hip pocket convinces me to take the subway then walk. With two back packs and sore feet it's just a little uncomfortable and slightly inconvenient. However it was definitely worth it as I experienced quite a few touching gestures from some of the locals. Firstly while I was at one of the subway stations my shoe became untied, this was pointed out to me by about four people and whilst standing on of the trains a man who could tell I couldn't do it up on with my pack on reached down and did it for me. Unfortunately it came undone about fifteen minutes later so once I got outside I sat on a step in the heat and re-tied it, during which time a man passing by offered me his subway map to sit on since the pavement was so hot. Whilst walking to the hotel I became rather confused with my printed map and had to stop a few times for directions, which was difficult due to the language barrier and the poor quality of my map, but I managed to come across one lady who phoned the number of the hotel which was on the map and was able to help me out. I feel these small details say a lot about the people and I just wish I could say that they would experience the same thing in a city in Australia.

After a few months of anticipation I finally met with our VodkaTrain group, I was glad to see they were a fairly normal bunch as we would all be spending a fair bit of time together over the next two weeks. We caught a Kung Fu show in the evening at the Sydney Opera house equivalent, the Red Theatre. The show was very entertaining, a cross between dancing, martial arts and a stage play.

Today I woke up at the crack of dawn to check out and then hop on a tour bus to Mutainyu, one of the tourist sections of the great wall. It was an interesting drive through the farmlands outside the city towards the mountains where I could get a feel for what types of foods were grown in the area. The thing I found strange was that there was not a single farmed animal in sight which just made me more curious about how sustainable it is to eat meat in this city. Once we arrived at the wall I got the chairlift up the mountain (which is a whole lot scarier than it sounds) and began to hike my way up to one of the higher point. By this stage it was about 35 degrees and full sun so over the two and a bit hours that I was on the wall I am pretty sure I could of filled a couple of buckets with sweat- yuck. The view however was at least twenty-four times greater than my body odour! Looking out over the valleys and mountains watching the wall snake it's way over the tops of the mountains for as far as I can see. Witnessing such a rare beauty it becomes one of those moments where I am utterly breath taken.

Driving back into Beijing, and I realise that I don't think I will be able to live in city permanently as there is just something about the wide open spaces that makes me feel comfortable.

Tonight we dine as group with a delicious selection of foods including, of course, peking duck. Once we are all stuffed silly we make our way to the train station as excited as young kids to catch the train to Inner Mongolia.

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