it's the friggin Great Wall of China!

Hey guys,

The air is smoggy, thus my snot is black and you can always hear someone horking in the background, but I'm so glad to be here, exploring this foreign place.

So I brushed my teeth on the Great Wall the other day.

Prior to arriving at the Jin Sha Ling section of the Great Wall, approx. 3 hours drive outside of Beijing, we stopped at both a copper pottery factory that used to serve only as the makers of pottery for the Emperor as well as a Jade factory. At both, we got a special tour of the factory and the stages they go through in creating these insanely beautiful and unique pieces. Many tours you can book in China often take you to these types of places and force you to buy things before you can leave but, with our legitimate tour, there was no pressure, but you could definitely feel the desire for tourists to buy, buy, buy. At the Jade factory we saw some HUGE pieces, like walls in themselves -- each one made from one single piece of Jade and costing over 300,000 dollars or 2.2 million yuan, I don't know who affords them but they're awesome.

Before arriving to the Wall we had the most alarming drive I've ever been apart of: cars would pass into oncoming traffic, on straightways, hills and curves, where the oncoming cars or trucks had to move to the shoulder to make room for you to finish the pass. The worst parts were when there was no shoulder, just fence. Horns are used instead of indicators and somehow, again, things just worked out -- with our seatbelts fastened, all we could do was watch in horrored amazement. I'm pretty sure my heart stopped about three times. Our driver though, called himself Master Liu -- and he lived up to his name, I've never seen such horrible driving carried out so perfectly.

The emotional reaction that I thought I would have at Ayers Rock was compensated for at the Great Wall. We watched the sunset over the Jin Sha Ling part of the Wall and I couldn't stop being in complete disbelief that we were there; standing on something with over two thousand years of history (since 5th century b.c.) of lives lost (2-3 million), a symbol of China's fortitude against their Mongol enemies, and willingness to put so much time, effort, and lives toward their goal.
The Wall is 6,400 km long and separates China from Ancient Mongolia.
We spent dinner with a local family and had a blast with them -- tonnes of laughs. Despite not understanding each other all of the time, we were able to share a great night full of LOTS of food and drinks. The bottles of beer here are massive one litres, and their famous "wine" is a combination of wheat, rice and water that works out to a spicy 56% alcohol. Acetone really.
Sleeping over in an old watchtower was amazing. I felt like I was sharing space with the millions of civilians and soldiers who built and protected the Wall for so many years.
We woke up to a bright orange Sun rising above the Wall, shining through the hazy sky. I brushed my teeth on the wall, ate a few bananas, had a cup of tea and we were ready to go.
We walked from the Jin Sha Ling section to the Simitai section of the Wall -- a hefty 10km uphill and approx. 2,000 steps. Three and a half hours and one blister later we were finished but instead of bad feelings, my exhaustion left me wanting for more of the Wall's beauty and characteristic chaos -- this area of the Wall is not renovated like that in touristy Beijing parts of the Wall. Instead we walked through old and ruinous watchtower rubble, uneven steps, and along precarious and extremely steep slopes winding around mountain and gorgeous natural scenery.

Hands down the most amazng experience I've ever had. How could it not be? it's the friggin Great Wall of China!

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