More Beijing and the Great Wall

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Okay, I admit it, not actually on the Great Wall right now, but spent about three hours on it at Mutianyu earlier in the day, and am nursing slight stiffness as a result. While I've seen the pictures, the reality of all those steps was a little bit wearing. We took a taxi driver recommended by the Oz Embassy for the day and it seemed a fait accompli that we would go to this particular site about 90 km north-east of Beijing. It was not the most touristy, but not as remote as my preference, however my companion Heather was not looking for anything more arduous, so Mutianyu it was. Sadly, it was quite misty up there, as opposed to 100 per cent smog closer to the centre of town, so my pics are very disappointing. People keep recalling sunny days in previous years, but they may be just pretending as the nearest thing to blue sky after the rain was very short-lived. When I look in the mirror, my eyes are clearly bloodshot. It is not due to alcohol and must be the effect of living and breathing all that smog for five days, with several more to come before we leave on Thursday.

And talking of Chinese beer, it has rated the lowest of all to date. No real flavour and goes flat in the glass in a nano-second which locals put down to the dishwasher experience on the glass. Even Russian was better, but wine is too pricey, at least in restaurants.

We have dined magnificently, with Peking (Beijing?) duck last night, as you do. I had forgotten that the carving was such an art with 108 slices required in the execution, each of which must contain some skin. Saturday was a dumpling restaurant where I reckoned that if I didn't eat Donkey Dumplings again, I really wouldn't care, and on Friday a lobster buffet of all you could eat washed down with Australian wine. All of us drank too much...... A lunch out was great also for a few dollars only. Makes you wonder why this town also boasts about a hundred McDonalds and a similar number of KFCs.

Beijing is truly a shopper's paradise but you have to be prepared to bargain remorselessly. I bought a small item at the pearl market on Saturday for 5 kwai (slang for yuan) and had someone offer the same thing for 80 kwai in the dirt market yesterday. Not sure if they are eternal optimists or some idiots really pay such prices. Unless you know what is a fair thing, it is very easy to pay far too much, but if it's far better than the Oz price, and you want it, I guess that's fine. Picked up a 70 litre backpack for around $40, which seems too good to be true when I think of the price at Mountain Designs or Katmandu. Those importers from China into Australia must be creaming it!

Olympic fever is already strong and on every street corner we are offered t-shirts. At only $1 US they are probably good value if you want a cleaning rag or two....

Brain is dead. Hoping to catch a cab to Tiananmen Square tomorrow if I can make the taxi driver understand.... a small challenge.

Cheers, and keep those messages rolling in, but please no more footy results.

GEORGIE

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