Mr. & Mrs. Vandebilt + kids

Well I think I can safely say that today was one of the highlights of my life. We spent the day hiking along the Great Wall at Jinshaling (about 3 hours outside of Beijing). I don’t think it’s even possible to describe just how incredible it actually is. This was one of those things that I have always dreamed about doing. I can remember being a kid and saying that someday I’d go see the Wall and it definitely didn’t disappoint. I’m not exactly sure what it is about it that makes it so incredible, whether it’s the history, the magnitude, the scenery or a combination or all three but it’s magical. It stretches as far as you can see in both directions and it just seems to hang on top of these green mountains.

We went on a tour through our hostel that provided transportation to the site as we had read that it’s really difficult to do it on your own. It was expensive (220RMB + 50 RMB for the entrance) but this isn’t the place to skimp out. We ended up doing the entire hike with the help of our own ‘guide’ Yooing who apparently lives in a village close by and hikes the wall everyday because his family can’t make enough money farming. So as a supplement he sells souvenirs to the hikers on the wall. We ended up buying something from him not because we wanted it but because we appreciated his touring. He told us some stories about the wall, carried some stuff for us and was generally just nice to have around.

We leave Beijing tomorrow to try and get to Pingyao, we had some problems with the train so tomorrow might end up being a little stressful, but apparently it’s all a part of the experience. Since we’re leaving tomorrow I’ve been thinking today about how I felt about Beijing and whether I was ready to leave it. Truthfully, I think I’ve gotten all I wanted to out of the city. I like it here but I don’t feel drawn to it. I like it because it was a nice change from Korea. People seem real here, like they are just living their lives. There doesn’t seem to be this insane race all the time to always get ahead or at the very least not be left behind. No one’s dressed as if they are trying to fool anyone, girls aren’t stumbling around in high heels constantly checking their makeup and the boys don’t look like they just walked out of a magazine. It’s just real life.

That being said though I don’t feel like Beijing had a lot of character or much soul. It seems empty. It’s like there’s just too much history or culture and so the city is stuck in time. The Wall was incredible, but other than that I think I’ve safely crossed Beijing off my list.

P.S. I’m in the process of posting some pictures on flickr…hopefully they’ll all post fine, so if you want to check them out go to flickr.com/photos/brynndevine