The Great Wall was . . . well . . . Great!

Our university (China Foreign Affairs University) hired a couple of buses and took us on an excursion to the Great Wall at Badaling (There are countless locations from which to see the wall). The Great Wall is only about 90 minutes from our apartment and the trip was wonderful. However, everything seemed to go wrong on the way there, including a sudden gastro-intestinal need to find a restroom in the middle of Beijing at an early morning hour when everything was closed. Our bus driver kindly found a hotel and I ran in, took care of business, then ran back out to the awaiting buses. Both buses waited for me. I was quite embarrassed and thought to myself, "The way things are going, I'll probably get to the Great Wall and accidentally lean against -- making it fall down."

Measuring the wall is tricky because there are off-shoots, natural "wall-like" barriers, etc. Altogether, it measures more than 13,000 miles and is considered one of the greatest architectural feats in the world's history.

Looking up at the wall as it winds around the mountainside. 

The Chinese flag proudly waves over the area. Great wall in the distance.

Laraine walks the great wall with our university colleagues and dear friends--Mike and Ruth Ann Martin, from South Africa. 

Walking the wall 

The view back towards Beijing from the Great Wall. 

Every once in a while there is a beacon tower from which ancient warriors signaled relayed messages to others along the wall via smoke during the day or fire at night

Approaching a signal tower

Two comrades enjoy the wall's history together

 

We've gotten to know the Martins very well. They teach us so much about South African culture, and we've found that we frequently have to struggle to understand their English, as it differs from our "real" English. Of course, we have a constant "battle" about which is the "real" English.