The Chinese customs officer is reviewing my exit information carefully. I fidget hoping he won't notice my answer to question #12, the last question, but when he gets to it he goes rigid and slowly looks up at me, staring me directly in the eyes. "It says here you have not hiked any section of the Great Wall of China. Is this true?" he asks. "Well I intended to" I assure him, "friends and family had said they were going to visit, so we kept postponing the moment to share with others...but ...but... nobody came over and we ran out of time!" He squares his shoulders and states without hesitation, "Your exit is not approved. Come back with evidence you have not spent an entire year in China ignoring our national treasure!" And with that he
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