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We were going back and forth in NY about which section of the Great Wall should we go to ... Badaling was definitely out, it had become THE tourist destination for the wall and had been restored to the point that it appeared almost to be a part of Epcot. The next two choices were tougher, both the Mutianyu and Simatai sections were less restored, Mutianyu was still restored and traveled but an easier hike, and the concern was with “famous” Beijing pollution, and humidity with high temps that a strenuous hike would just be out of the question... So of course we finally voted on the Simatai section, nicknamed the “Wild Wall.” This section is the least restored and has very little in terms of tourist traffic. While we were there we saw ....hummmm... maxing out at maybe 20 other hikers. We hired a guide through our friend Shannon’s friend Marilynn who runs a travel business in NYC called ChinaSmith. She made some arrangements with a local agency for us, and on Monday morning we met Vivian, and our driver... they were our escorts to the Simatai Great Wall. The day started early, we left the hotel at 6Am, made it to the wall by 815, paid the ¥40 and began our trek. When we got there we noticed that there had been a sky lift installed, and a row of small buildings that were now empty, but are obviously to be stores.... more “progress” for the crowds expected during the 2008 games. Guess we are lucky to be here while they are in their natural state. When we started we were both a bit anxious, but our fears were soon put to rest when we “became a party of six”.... Jeff became the instant fried of a 20 year old Chinese national from southern China, it was his first time to the Great Wall, and he wanted to practice his English.... We also acquired two local farm women who became our aids and assistants ... they would give a helping hand, or fan Jeffrey when he got tooooooo hot, or offer additional tidbits of information about the name or number of the tower etc. We were most assured that they were in it to hawk souvenirs to us later in the day. However, we did find there help very useful.... so we figured, hey... so we’ll buy my mom a Chinese fan! Onward to the beginning...

In the early morning mist the wall seemed hauntingly alive... the ghosts of its builders were with us, the guards omnipresent. What a site! The steps were steep, 70 or greater were the angles we had to transverse. They were irregular in both girth and height, and often disintegrated into nothing. It was vigorous in the beginning (and well, in the end and middle also... but I think we got used to the terrain!) The views were spectacular... we both felt that we had made the correct choice. We saw the wall as it was, perhaps imperfect, but we saw IT, not throngs of people and 5 year old brick, with tour buses and crying kids. Vivian was a good guide, she is engaged to a American man living in Boston, a doctor... she tells me that her phone bill is quite the number... she hopes eventually to emigrate. I mad it all the way to the end of the allowable towers , I think it was the 12th (but I’m not sure)... Jeff on the other hand decided he would rather begin bargaining with our two women companions for that fan (and a few other items) so he stayed behind while I did the last two towers with Vivian. Well you know how butch both of us really are, and well the sky lifts were there, and we really did do a four plus hour hike UP the Great Wall, so we proudly took the lift back down to start. A really wonderful view and stress free, gently way to end a most wonderful day. On the way back we made a couple of very short stops and ate a box lunch in the car (which made me (hj) just a bit sick that evening and the next day. We stopped at a tea shop (no not like the coffee shops of Amsterdam... get your mind out of that place)... they did a sales pitch (expected) and I got some leechee tea. We also made a roadside stop to look at the progress of the Olympic stadium, they call it the bird’s nest... and it is an amazing structure. We had dinner plans for the evening, but when we got back, the high priority was sleep... which we did till the next morning at 530AM !

PS just to let your knwo, if you click on the picture you should get a larger version of that picture. Also, I am using the blog site in a combination of Mandarine characters and German.... no English. So forgive any strange spellings.