Today we drove to the Great Wall in Mutianyu, about an hour and a half outside of Beijing. We arrived at the wall by 9:00am and the whole mountain was covered in true fog, a cloud really. By the time we left the fog was beginning to lift and we were able to capture some decent photos of the wall. The wall extends over 6,000km (or for those of you in America, nearly 4000 miles). The shear size is breathtaking. We took a cable car up from the village to the top of the mountain where we walked along the wall from lookout tower 14 to 23 and back again. If we look gross in any (all) of the pictures, it's because we were. It was HOT and grossly humid.
After returning to the city we ate lunch at a Chinese chain restaurant that serves "Hot Pot," which is basically a Chinese take on fondue (not the cheese kind). We ordered various broths that sat on hot pots in front of us along with raw meat, veggies, and noodles. You put the items into the broth to cook quickly (it doesn't take long, the meat is sliced very thin) and then dunk it in peanut sauce in a bowl in front of you. It was quite delicious, even the fake crab meat made from some kind of flower. Leslie was forced to eat slower than her normal speedy pace, since the noodles and chop sticks weren't quite working out for her. She was holding the chopsticks "completely wrong" according to our guide, who also informed us that it's completely acceptable to stab food with the chop sticks to pick it up.
Leslie in Mutianyu
Trekking from lookout tower 14 to 23
Exterior of the Great Wall. I would not want to be an enemy of the Chinese!
"View" from the top of lookout tower 23 after a very steep 700 stair hike up from tower 22.
The steepest section of the walk
At the top of the steep stairs
Heading back, the clouds cleared out a bit
Partway back down the 700 stairs
I want to know what happens if someone falls at the top of the stairs!
The picture doesn't do it justice. The wall extends far into the distance along the mountain ridges.
Enjoying "Hot Pot" for lunch
3 comments:
Great pics!! Is that the Chinese verson of Coca Cola in fromt of Leslie?? LOL
It is, but she doesn't like it as much. I guess it's not as sweet as Coke in the states. It tastes the same to me.
Xiabu Xiabu is one of my favorite hot pot places in China :-) The sesame sauce is the best there! I loved the coke in China...made with real sugar (although maybe not the fountain stuff). Sorry you had so much fog on the wall...it truly is amazing! Glad you were able to get to China.
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