The "Group"
Sometimes I dream to be like "Mike"
Why are my arms not out
Good stuff
One of few level sections
Just sitting around
Perspective
A lot of steps
Guide towers separate each section
Each guide tower has a few rooms
Sitting on a steep section
I like this one
curvy and hilly
Randy from a distance
Perspective
Although 4-5 miles total - long hiking day
Good stuff
Randy crawling up a steep area
Look down the hill
China flag
Looking back down on the way to Section #1
Steep Section #3
Randy after making it to Section #1
Be very, very careful
Downhill luge
Peking duck dinner
Artistic duck
Wangfujing at night
Great Wall tour day! If you ever find yourself in Beijing, China - this is a must-see in my opinion. We awoke to great weather. Not quite as hot and the skies were very clear. We met our tour guide (Vivian) at 6:45am at a hotel location about 15 minutes from our place by foot. One of the intended participants was a no-show; therefore, Randy/Wendy and I got our own private tour.
It was a 2-hr drive to the location of the section we were touring today - Mutianyu. There are only 5 legal sections of the Wall to visit - all with their own unique style. We decided upon Mutianyu because it is not generally as crowded as the other locations and has some fantastic green color in the surrounding mountains. This was the section the president had visited in the recent past. Great choice and even more impressive than the section I remember running in the marathon several years back.
Upon arrival, we took a chair lift up the mountain to Section #6. There were 20 sections that we could tour - total distance around 2 miles (3.5km) expanding from Section #1 to Section #20. Our tour guide took some great photos of us and then left us to explore for 3 hours. Fantastic! The Wall is a challenging hiking day for sure - as there is no real flat stretch. Generally, you are either going up or down steps. And - these steps can be VERY steep at times. Each section is connected by guide towers. The Wall was originally created to keep out the Mongolians and guards were positioned on the Wall for protection and watch.
I couldn't stop taking photos. We made our way to Section #14 - back to Section #1 - and then to Section #6. We took a slide down the mountain. We were on these little carts (kind of like a luge track). You pushed forward to go and pulled back to slow down. Really fun! I couldn't go as fast as I wanted because the couple in front of me were a little tentative - but, it was great fun nonetheless.
We next departed and drove to a small town about 30 minutes from the Wall on our way to Beijing. We stopped and had an incredible lunch. It was nice having our guide (Vivian) order for us. The choices were outstanding, as we had a family-style shared meal. Great conversation as well. I really enjoy hearing from local folks when I travel. Vivian could talk non-stop --- for hours. Awesome insite and perspective.
Back to Beijing around 4pm for some rest and a shower. We then had drinks at the hotel bar while discussing upcoming plans for Xi'an and Shanghai. We decided upon some traditional Peking duck at the most famous "duck restaurant" in Beijing (Quanjude) for dinner. We weren't sure how to order but we came away with an outstanding meal. It was neat to see the chefs carve the duck in front of us. It was placed on our table in the form of a flower on a large platter - impressive stuff!
After a filling dinner, we walked the Wangfujing Street at night back to our hotel. Unfortunately we didn't run into any ice cream shops on our return. That's OK - we'll call this a fantastic day in China. One of those you'll always remember and a highlight for me on this trip!
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