We conquered the Great Wall

Another action-packed day for the Pecore-Renault vacation clan. We all slept in until 6:30 this morning and then scurried to make it down to breakfast by 7:30 and out to the parking lot by 8 am for our driver, who we booked for the day to take us to the Great Wall of China. 

Our driver and the interpreter tour guide, who didn't speak a word of English (???), took us on a two hour drive north of Beijing to Jingshenling, a non-touristy spot in the Wall where you can start a 10-k hike. It's actually quite a distance to even get to the Wall from the base gate, since the Wall (all 10,000 km of it) is built along the highest mountain ridge, creating a border that was meant to fortress China from Mongolia and Russia. 

We took a chair lift up to the Wall and then set off on our hike. We were impressed to see that a half dozen locals, Mongolian farmers it appeared, were also taking the hike at the same time. They were very helpful, telling us to be careful, showing us interesting features, and even taking the children by the hand. It took about 20 minutes for us very preceptive tourists (duh) to realize we were being "hawked". At one junction when Len and I stopped to look at some flowering bushes, one of the sweet Mongolian farmers whipped out her Great Wall souvenir guide and demanded 118 yen after we agreed to look at a picture of said bush. Len pulled out his wallet, containing every yen we have, and her eyes flew open while she threw her fellow hawkers some sort of secret signal that clearly said "Stick with this one, fellas." And that confirmed our fate. It took another hour, much hand-waving and yelling no (or "bu" in Chinese) and they finally left us alone.

We were then able to enjoy the rest of the hike in peace. We stopped for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (all the 6 children have eaten so far this trip) and some Snicker bars and the kids led us up and down the endless stairs that took us through the 20 fortresses built on the peaks and valleys of the wall. There is a fortress every half kilometre for the full 10,000 km. The Wall is greatly corroded in spots and we scrambled up and along the crumbling stairs. The kids led the way and uttered not a single complaint the whole way. They were awesome. Lauren got a few blisters on her toes and Jo pinched her finger under a hiking shoe, but nothing serious. 

The highlight of the day for everyone was the "Flying Fox", a zip-line that transports you from the Wall down to the base gate via a pulley and harness hung from a wire suspended over a gorge. What a thrill for all - OK, except Steve and Gina who felt someone needed to take pictures... so we made the sacrifice. We are so good and brave to do so. And we are not chickens.

It took about 2.5 hours to get back to Beijing through rush hour traffic. The kids went wild while the grown-ups (Julia included) fell asleep as the driver wove maniacally through several lanes of traffic. Apparently, in China a solid white line means pass to the left or right, a solid yellow line means you own the whole road, and where there are no lines, there are no rules. It is hair-raising to say the least. Oh, and seat belts are frowned upon. Drinking beer while sending text messages - the driver that is - is encouraged. 

The kids crashed around 7 pm and all have gone to bed with sticky faces and sweat socks still on their feet....with all the sweat in place. Cleaning up is something for tomorrow. 

Oh, my luggage is still not here. Len just went and put my one outfit in the wash. Today was the first time in a very long time that I noticed my jeans had turned a different colour down the front from all the dirt. What a feeling. 

g