Bucket list item– visit the Great Wall.  Now, here is the thing, and if you know me, you know this is so…. I am not so much about seeing stuff as knowing stuff, and in particular, historical stuff. For example, I have never been to the West Edmonton Mall, and while I’m sure it’s a very nice Mall, I won’t be heartbroken if I don’t get there.  Likewise, if ever I am fortunate enough to get to New York City, MOMA will be much higher on my list than Saks 5th avenue. (Much). Granted, I did enjoy shopping along the Luogo Alley (one of the ancient Hutong Alleys), but I’ve bought nothing in the local mall.

Forgive me, dear reader, I am digressing like nobody’s business.  Indeed that last few days, since the storm, have been a bit of a chaotic blur.  I was relieved to discover good connectivity this morning, and am taking advantage by rambling.  Please feel free to skip to the pictures. (Here are some highlights):

And so… yesterday, I met my small group in the Lobby at 6:30, and we boarded an air-conditioned 15 passenger bus and headed off on our next adventure– two hours later, we stood at the foot of the mountain range capped by the Great Wall.  I suppose in a number of senses, there is a bit of an Amusement Park vibe at the entrance, and even though our bus driver spoke not a word of english, we managed to communicate we would meet back at the bus at 1:00pm.  He took us to the ticket office where we got our only disappointing news of the day.  Because of the storm, the chairlift/toboggan run was closed when we got there.  What’s that? Yes, you can ride to the top of the wall on a 2 person chair lift and then slide down… it turned out they did open later in the day, but we had committed to the  cable car/gondola by then.  We’ll just have to return another time.

And so, what remains to be told about the Great Wall?  As always, even though they don’t do the scale or grandeur justice, pictures still speak 1000 words, if only tepid ones.

More later….