GREAT WALL OF CHINA
– BADALING
WOW, what a day!
We had breakfast and
then caught up with Clifford from Genelec India office who had
Prashant with him who is the distributor from India. They were going
to the Great Wall of China – Badaling, and we were invited to go
with them.
We headed off in a
people mover approx 10am, with Hahn our Driver who spoke NO english,
and drove into the mountains. WOW, what an absolutely amazing
country. The hills are so very steep and the vegetation is
completely different to Australia, very lush!
The roads are
amazing. They are wide and with many lanes. Yes, the people drive
all over the place, but there is organised chaos. It was amazing to
see the city fade away and the HUGE high rises which people live in…
makes the Collingwood slums look pretty tame to these. No words or
photos from the ground can describe the scale and sheer amount of
them, but I guess they do have to house 21million people just in
Beijing.
We arrived at the
Badaling Wall – remember the 21,000,000 million people who were at
the zoo yesterday? Well, they were ALL at the Badaling Wall today
with their families!! Honestly, it was hysterical. We knew it would
be busy, but once again, nothing prepared us for the sheer volume of
people. Why aren't these people working? Why aren't the children at
school? So many questions, but alas no one speaks english to answer
us.
We bought tickets –
RMB40 for the entry fee (AUD $10) and then paid RMB100 (AUD $25) for
the cable car ride up to the top of the wall – now you can walk up
to the top of the wall, but I would have paid $200 for the cable car
ride – IT IS STEEP PEOPLE!!
Of course once again
Steve and I were asked for photos with various random strangers, all
wanting photos of the Westeners! Clifford and Prashant were amused
by how “famous” we were!! Children were grabbing at my arms to
say “hello” and smile. Still not sure why they wanted photos
with myself and Steve. Thought for a while it was because of the
huge camera's…. and then maybe Steve's beard, but we weren't
holding big camera's and they still wanted photos with me. Anyway –
bring it on – love being famous! :)
Poor Hahn is afraid
of heights so we found out on the ride up the cable car, so he hung
onto the seat and us and shuddered the whole trip up. Poor man, we
all felt for him… thought he would be sick at one stage. What a
guy having to endure his fear to take us tourists up there.
Once out onto the
wall, the first flat part which has no steps, is VERY steep –
everyone was on a 45 degree incline just to walk up it….then we got
to the steps. Thankfully there were so many people crammed in there,
it kept the pace slow and manageable.
Did we get “the
shot” we wanted? No – not with that many people, and not at that
time of the day, but we can say we've been there and we've
experienced it, and the photos we do have will be a great reminder of
our experience.
The temperature was
33 degree's in Beijing, and it was a very pleasant 25 degree's at
Badaling with a slight breeze. We still sweated BIG TIME with all
the steps and walking, but thank god it was manageable! :)
So we headed back to
Beijing, only for Clifford to ask if we liked Peking Duck, as the
worlds BEST Peking Duck restaurant DaDong is here and we have to eat
there. So off we went. OMG, what a place. Would have to be a 5
Star restaurant for sure, the fit-out was immaculate and extravagant.
And then the Duck – WOW, what an experience. I've had Peking Duck
before, but not like this – this was truly out of this world
amazing. We ate 2 ducks…. I think I ate a whole duck on my own.
Steve ate some duck pancakes and tried the Duck Bone soup! Very
proud of Steve!! Clifford and I ate till we couldn't eat anymore
(did someone say “diet?” - yes, well, when I get back home)…
but thank god for the steep walk up the Great Wall beforehand –
means I had some calories to burn in credit! Lol
So back to the East
Hotel to meet up with the gang from Genelec who've flown in from
around the South East Asia region and beyond. Maybe off to dinner
later – hopefully its not Peking Duck! lol
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