Winter at The Great Wall of China

---

In all my travel experiences, China was the most challenging country. I've experienced difficulties during my visit to Beijing, from entering the country, leaving the airport, staying and exiting Beijing. Not only the immigration regulations were strict, but the language barrier was a massive issue too. The scrutiny of the city is exceptionally high. The Chinese public security team and the military ensured the city was guarded. Surveillance cameras were also installed in busy streets and little blocks, which was uncomfortable at some point.

Beijing got me frustrated at times however, sweet Beijingers made that drama disappear. I spent four days in Beijing under the Beijing 144 hours visa-free program. My travel point began in Beijing, where I took half the day to recover from long-haul flights. I felt the damn jetlag linger the next day. To beat it, I spent my day strolling around the city for tasty bites of traditional Beijing cuisine. I shopped at the famous Wangfujing Street, picking up some winter garments, including a personal shopper service (Like what...!) and grabbing some souvenirs. The aroma of Chinese cuisine called out where ever I went, which was hard to resist even when I was not hungry. Peking duck and noodles are a must-try!

On the second day, my travel guide, Mike, picked me up for a day trip to several places, including a small village on the way to The Great Wall. We departed at 6 am to avoid traffic. The little town is the first stop, and Mike told me to nap on the way there, so I slept in. When I woke up four hours later, I saw heaps of snow falling and covering the entire village of Yanqing. Oh, so beautiful!

After we spent an hr in the village, Mike dropped me up the hill to the cable cars going up to the Great Wall. I got excited and could barely wait to start walking. He only gave me two hours in there before we headed to the following stops, so I made the most of it. I kept walking and occasionally stopped to stare at pieces of the wall-stones. This ancient masterpiece was truly magnificent! It looked just how I had pictured it. It's massive, beautiful, historical, and icy in some areas. It is fascinating how engineering was done during ancient yet is better than today's work.

And, of course, my two hours were up rapidly! I rushed back to the meeting point where Mike waited. I told him I needed more than two hours to walk the entire wall, maybe years! The Forbidden City is coming next.

---

Comments

[anonymous]

Very nice