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Today was the day we had been waiting for... We were off to the Great Wall. We woke at six am and Steven jumped in the shower while I put layer upon layer on... In the end I was wearing two pairs of tights, socks, trousers, a vest, two jumpers, a hoodie, a jacket and a scarf, hat and gloves! ...and I was still freezing. We headed to the lobby at seven am and met the group before venturing out in the minus seventeen degree bitterness.... Ouch!
The bus was cosy and we jumped in... Soon after we were on our way to the Great Wall about two hours away. It was freezing and there was snow everywhere. The city was coming to life and there was traffic everywhere, apparently for the twenty two million residents of Beijing there are over eight million privately owned cars. Due to this vast amount of traffic on the roads the government introduced a ruling that privately owned cars can only be on the road six days a week. This is enforced by using the last two numbers of the number plates... For example todays number was eighteen so everyone with a number plate ending in eighteen wouldn't be allowed to drive their cars between eight am and eight pm otherwise they would be fined two hundred yuan.
During the drive we enjoyed watching the scenery change from city to country and watching everyone gong about their business... We even saw some very cold sheep. After nearly two hours we arrived at the Great Wall and we could see if far away up the mountain. It was only after one thousand cold brutal steps that we finally set foot on the Great Wall... It was breath taking. I had heard all these different opinions of the wall so was a bit wary of what it would be like but it was better than I could have imagined... It's absolutely huge and a lot less touristy then I thought... In fact we were the only people on the wall for at least the first hour or so which meant we got some great shots. You don't really appreciate the huge scale of the wall and how on earth they managed o construct it!
Tommy had told us a story about the construction of the wall on route... Basically a guy was working on the Great Wall and as a result spent a long time away from his wife who loved him very much, after one particularly long separation the wife couldn't cope any more and headed to the wall to find her spouse. On arrival she was informed of his unfortunate death and became hysterical... Crying for seven days and seven nights... Strangely the section of the wall her husband had been working on then collapsed and she dug and dug until she found his remains... She then took him and threw his ashes in the sea before jumping in herself and drowning, to his day there is a temple at the spot marking where she perished... How sad.
Shortly after arriving we put on our Santa hats and took some Christmas photos before walking along a few miles of the wall. The conditions were cold and snowy and in some parts the wall was dangerously slippery... A few people ended up on their rear. However at every watch tower we were astonished a little bit more... The wall goes on forever and at each tower the view is more spectacular than the last. The wall really is magnificent and a true wonder of the world... My fave wonder so far. It was so stunning to see if after it has snowed as it truly illuminates the wall beautifully. After an hour or two more people started to appear on the wall although it was still vastly empty and very quiet. The whole place has an eery feel about it and I imagine its quite creepy at night.
After a few hours of walking the wall we headed back to where we entered and walked the thousand steps back down to the bottom... On reaching the bottom we walked past various shops and stalls and avoided eye contact with the sellers... We then headed back to the bus.
The journey home was lovely... The sun was now out and shining over the snowy grounds on route back to Beijing. It was stunning to see.., we huddled in the bus attempting to warm up and regain some feeling in our fingers and toes.. I had popped to the loo while we were on route to the bus and it was crazy how numb my hands were, I couldn't even do my buttons up. About thirty mins from Beijing I curled up to Steven to keep warm and he pulled away... On enquiring what was wrong he grumpily said he was busting for the toilet and if we didn't stop soon he would pee in a bottle! Wow where did that come from... I asked Tommy how far he next stop was and he said half our which Steven said was fine... Till a few mins later when he snapped again saying he was busting for the toilet... What followed was our driver flying down the road at about ninety miles an hour to get to a toilet... I haven't even seen ambulances go that fast. Steven jumped out and came back a few mins later a lot more relaxed and chilled... Drama over.
Once we were back in Beijing we headed to a large indoor market that specialised in counterfeit goods such as Max Mara and D&G... we headed straight to the top floor though for lunch. We arrived in a large food court and were ushered to a desk where you purchase a prepaid card for say ten pounds then you go and purchase your food... On leaving you return the card and are reimbursed anything you haven't spent. Ourselves and the Aussies headed to a noodle bar and purchased a beef noodle dish which consisted of a huge bowl... With noodles, beef, veg and bean sprouts all coated in a spicy broth. It was very tasty and very filling and really warmed us up.
After lunch we headed through the floors of shops and met Tommy and the others... We then jumped in the bus and headed back to the hotel for 'free' time. There were a few options later but right now I wanted the warmth of a hot shower.
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