THIS is a GREAT wall

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Today I did the classic! The climbing and long march of the GREAT WALL OF CHINA! It really truly is a feat of human(han)kind. Well, actually the great emperor Chi (who China takes her name from) started it...then it just got longer and rebuilt and rebuilt for thousands of km, thousands. I got to see a part of the unrenovated wall where there was NO OTHER tourists, and believe me that is an achievement on Labour weekend. We walked up to the wall and along it for a few hours, just taking in the endurance and bodies of men that went into it (literally, some say the exhausted dead were simply buried within the wall as extra mortar!). The scale of it is just...breathtaking. It never really served its purpose as defense against the marauding neighbours, but it did provide a safe trade route facilitating the exchange of goods and ideas from the middle east and India.

Not only did I see the GREAT WALL, but also took the mandatory culinary experience of Beijing today too. Peking Duck! I am stuffed as a stuffed duck. Delicious.

Beijing, like China in general, is a confusing mix of old and new, of frantic rebuilding, breakneck speed development and remnants of an old way of life. You've got the traditional Hutongs, where many people live, next to just-built shiny complexes. It would have been interesting to see Beijing before the Olympics, you can almost see the Huge effort that's gone in to try and Westernise the city. The subway is 10 times better, cleaner, more efficient than the London underground, some streets are so clean (forgetting air pollution of course) its like walking through a model village. Then you turn a corner and the streets a mess of mud, dirt, rubbish and workmen. I've had a few people say in perfect English "Hellooo, Welcome to China" whilst giggling with the excitement of being able to speak their one English phrase! A mix is what it is.