The word Great doesn't seem to capture how awesome in so many ways the Wall actually is. I suppose I can congratulate myself on finding a good bit of wall though, worlds away from the tourist traps of Badaling and Mutianyu where the wall is drowned out by noisy guides with flags and microphones, hawkers, shops and even cable cars. Huanghua great Wall was close to deserted and I found myself clambering alone for a good portion of my hike! Excellent! The ride there from Huairou and back again was great fun, just me and a non-English speaking driver making very odd conversation in Chinese. Tai re ba? Un. Yingguo ye re ma? Bu. Wode tui teng. Ha ha ha. The photos I will upload once the Aussies have stopped cocking about with the site are good but don't really do justice to the incredible scale of the thing. Ashi itai!
I'm off to Taiyuan tonight but I'll miss Beijing. I've met lots of nice people and have more or less settled into the Chinese way of doing things. Beijing over Shanghai any day!
