I am delighted to say that I went on a day trip with the Beijing Hikers and we climbed very long, steep, derelict sections of the Great Wall of China. I’ve earned my stripes! OK, to go back to the beginning: Soon after I arrived in China I was, of course, reading the magazines for ex-patriots about all there is to see and do in Beijing. I read about the Beijing Hikers who organise regular trips to areas outside Beijing. My immediate response to the discovery was, “That sounds brilliant!” But all my free time for the next few months was taken up apartment-hunting, moving in, then planning the trip to and going on the Trans-Siberian Railway. By the time I got back to Beijing mid-June it was too hot to even consider doing anything energetic
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