Great Wall Photo Gallery

It feels like every day we are out the door by 5am, and today was no different. Last night, we arranged for a taxi to drive us to a secluded segment of the Great Wall, which is roughly four hours outside Beijing. The ride was an adventure in itself as our taxi driver avoided traffic and took us through a variety of back roads. At one point we even had to exit the car to move a dirt-filled wagon out of the way so we could pass.

Upon reaching the Great Wall, I felt the same tingle I felt yesterday at Tiananmen - the knowledge that a great China experience is waiting. Given the secluded nature of this segment of the wall, which snakes up and down mountains for seven miles, I was free to enjoy the experience without hordes of noisy tourists ruining the experience.

The wall itself was crumbling throughout, making for treacherous climbs and descents. At several points, time and erosion left only a path of stones to walk along. Of course, at other places it was obvious why the Great Wall was never breached since the first stones were laid back in the 5th century.

The views along the way were exactly what I have seen on postcards, and I never believed could actually be real - much less that I would be seeing them with my own eyes. I always had this image that the Great Wall was a massive tourist attraction that was built on flat land, remained well preserved, and was basically no more than a place to have your picture taken at. I am glad I was so wrong.

It is remarkable that the longest man-made structure blends so harmoniously with its surroundings; the stones looked like and felt like a natural feature of the landscape.

Now that I have described how beautiful China can be, I will bring the country back to reality… The bathroom I found at the entrance had hundreds of inch- long white maggots in the "pit" (toilet) and the flies were as thick as smoke. It was that bad, and I rushed out of there as quickly as I could.

Our ride back to Beijing was an hour shorter, presumably because our driver knew he would be home soon. Nonetheless, we paid him upon our arrival at the hotel, and after showering and eating a quick Japanese curry for dinner, we rushed off to a performance at the famous, Lao She Teahouse. Visited by everyone from Tony Blair to Bill Clinton, the teahouse has live acts featuring well-known Chinese customs (martial arts, Sichuan face-changing, music, singing, story-telling, and comedy).

Much like the rest of Beijing, the teahouse shows were mostly a letdown. Each of the acts originates from a different region in China, and the performances were an attempt to bring everything together – sacrificing quality for quantity in the process. It was like hearing New Yorkers sing folk songs, watching Alaskans rap, or seeing the Celtics play basketball - clearly, none of them are the right people for the job.

Finally, a bit of humor for the day:

The chair is a nice touch.