The Great Wall and the rest of Beijing....

The day long hike of the great wall was definitely the highlight of the trip so far. On a bus at 7am for a 2.5 hr drive outside the city, and we were on the wall for 10am to begin a 5 mile hike that was tough in places. There are closer sections of the wall to Beijing, but this was an un-restored section and better views and that, so went with an organised tour from hostel which also meant we met other travellers, mainly became friendly with the Australians,Canadians and British. The final part of the hike took us across a suspension bridge and to get across the lake, took a 'flying fox'/'zipline'/'aerial runway' which was very cool, even a little scary. Got a foot massage in the evening to help with any muscle pains which it did. Tuesday went for a proper dinner in a nice restaurant and then on to a KungFu show, which was good - local version of a Broadway play type thing. Wednesday Oct 1st was a national holiday, and we thought we'd avoid the city by going to the Summer Palace in the north-west. Big mistake, I've never seen a place so crowded in my life! All the visitors there were Chinese who were off for the holiday - so didn't get to see much. Some kids had not seen a Westerner often, and just from walking around, few shouted "Hello" with a big smile - quiet a novelty. Thursday being the last day in Beijing, checked out the shopping area, Wangfujing, and the famous food stalls nearby. As I expected, they had all sorts of food there that raised an eyebrow! I took a chance and had a bite of some snake...but was quick to resort back to some chicken and beef ! Finished off Beijing by heading out in the Sanlitun, trendy area in the west of the city, right next to where the Boxing was for the Olympics. Had a great night, locals and some westerners dancing as you'd see in the LES in NY, everything from Eminem and Dr. Dre to the latest chart stuff (but no Galway Girl!!). Still buzzing on Friday morning....make our way to the airport for the afternoon flight to Xian, and said our goodbyes to Beijing.....for now, as definitely think I'd like to be back.....

More pics here : http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=78084&l=7a879&id=648737666