Beijing part 3

[Jim wrote this section to give me a break]

We got up early and had a buffet breakfast at the hotel. Then boarded the busses. Leonard said that since we were all so good at being on time, we could have a quick stop at the Olympic center. The temperature was a little cooler this morning because of wind out of the north last night which also eliminated some of the smog and the sky was bluer. We saw the “Birdsnest” and the water sports building. It was a long walk and we didn’t have much time so pictures were on the fly. Back on the bus heading to the “Great Wall”.

There are 5 circular highways that encircle Beijing for better traffic control. Once we were on the 5th ring, even during rush hour, the traffic wasn’t too bad. Soon we were in the countryside and could see the mountains. Leonard pointed out the village where he grew up and said he used to ride his bike to the Great Wall in 30 minutes.

10 minutes into the mountains we could see some of the Great wall. What a sight. We are actually looking at the Great Wall with our own yes - not a picture, not a video shot from the space shuttle, and not in a movie. Traveling on into the mountains for about 20 minutes we stop at the Ba Da Ling area of the Great Wall. Leonard said construction started over 2,000 years ago and continued off and on until about 1,000 years ago. It is approximately 4,473 miles long. A lot of what we saw had been restored but we did see some that had obviously not been touched. Leonard said we could go left or right from here. Left was a tougher climb but less people. Looking to the right the wall is covered with people. We were allowed 2 hours before our meeting time.

We went left. Quite a few steps up to the first tower - a moderate incline up the stone walk - then some stairs up to the 2nd tower. Sue was having a difficult time at this point. Knowing that this was the highlight of the trip for her, I decided to urge her (with help from me and the railing) to the next tower. This was a very steep incline with just a few steps into the next tower. We made it and Sue was ultimately glad to come this far. Back to the meeting area with time for shopping where we purchased our “I climbed the Great Wall” T-Shirts. Next was back on the bus - time for lunch.