9th Oct 08 - Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is over 7000km long and was built from 221BC. We only walked on a very small part of it - called the Badaling section. But it was VERY steep. The steps are very high and require a lot of effort. On top of that (like everything in China it seems) it was very crowded.

But it was one of the most impressive man made constructions I have ever seen. Made even more poignant as every worker who died 'on the job' was simply buried in the wall. Just think of that as you climb the steps!

You can see how tough the climb was just to reach the first watchtower

At the moment we got back down again the heavens opened and, boy, did it rain and thunder! If we had been at the top it would have been quite dangerous as the steps were very slippery. Obviously visibility was very low - which was a shame - so I had to put up with these rather moody pictures.

Next stop was the Shangri-La Hotel in Beijing for the night. Then on to the Forbidden City