I got some new shoes yesterday. "Wow, big deal...", you might think. But for me, new shoes are a very exciting thing.

I own a few different pairs of shoes that are in regular rotation.

I have a pair of nice black leather shoes that I wear only on formal occasions (graduation ceremonies, school functions, weddings etc.). These shoes are a couple of years old but they still look brand new because I don't have many chances to wear them.

I have a pair of Nike sandals that are about 10 years old. I wear them in summer when I go to the beach, go to a picnic or some other similar outdoor activity. They are also in great condition.

I have a pair of Nike runners that I wear when I play indoor sport and when I am at work. In Japan, you have one pair of shoes for wearing outside and one pair of shoes for wearing inside (at work). When you leave your house, you put on your outdoor shoes. When you arrive at work, you change your outdoor shoes for your indoor ones. Theoretically, your indoor shoes should remain nice and clean because they are only used indoor on clean floors (which are clean because everyone wears indoor shoes... get it?). I admit, I sometimes use my indoor shoes for outdoor activities. If I go jogging or partake in some outdoor sports, I'll probably use my Nikes because they are the most appropriate for sport. However, I usually give them a bit of a clean before they return to indoor use. Amazingly, even though I wear these shoes everyday, after 2 years they still look brand new (they don't smell brand new though...). I have never had a pair of shoes that have had this much use and have remained so clean.

Finally, I have a pair of Jack Purcell slip-ons. These shoes are awesome. Jack Purcell's are apparently badminton-style shoes made by Converse. They are fashionable enough that they can be worn out, but they are also the sort of shoes that can be worn when I'm just hanging about. The best thing about them is their slip-on-ness. I have to change shoes so many times (leaving home, arriving at work, leaving work, arriving home etc.) that I would probably go insane having to tie and untie my laces all the time. Unfortunately, these shoes are a little worse for wear. Actually, that's being kind. They are barely holding together. They are full of holes and my socks get wet when I walk in a puddle. They started off as a slightly off-white colour, and now they are a smoky grey. The worst part is that they've been like this for ages.

The thing is, buying replacements is not an easy task. Sure, if I was living in Australia, I could just wander down to the local shopping centre and pick up a new pair, but this just isn't possible in Japan. It's not that they don't have nice shoes here - the selection is basically the same as a western country. The problem is that they just don't have my size. I wear a size 13, which equals 31cm (Japan measures shoe size in cms). The average men's size is about 25 or 26cm, so most shops will stock up to about 27 or 28cm. Occasionally I have found places that have a special section with a small selection of 'big sizes', which are usually about 28 or 29cm. The only time I've actually found size 31 was at the Nike Factory shop in Sapporo, where I found a pair of Lakers purple and yellow basketball boots (no thanks...). For about a year, every time I've gone near that store I dropped in to see if they had anything my size, but no luck. When I went to China I also had no luck, even though I spent many hours searching.

Finally, this week, I decided enough was enough. I ordered a pair of shoes from an online shop here in Japan that specialises in 'freak sizes'. The selection was actually not too bad, and although they were a little more expensive than usual I was happy to pay.

One great thing about Japan is the excellent delivery services that are available. Delivery is great - I can order something from anywhere in Japan and it will be delivered to my door within 48 hours. I can pay at a local convenience store or I can pay the delivery man directly. I can choose a specific delivery time, and if I'm not at home then they'll come back at anytime of the day I choose. Actually, this is not entirely true in my case - as I live out in the middle of nowhere there are only a certain number of deliveries each day. If I was living in an urban area then they would deliver at any time of the day or night. One time I ordered a camera part and had it delivered to my apartment. I wasn't at home when it arrived so the delivery guy actually went to my office to find out which school I was working at, then went to that school to hand deliver it to me (nice, eh?).

Anyway, my shoes were supposed to be delivered Wednesday but I wasn't home. There was a note there asking me to call to organise a redelivery time. The next day I was driving home after school when I just happened to see a delivery truck turn a corner ahead of me. I followed it, waving my arms until the driver saw me. He stopped, grabbed my package and gave it to me without me even having to exlpain anything. I guess there are some good things about being the only foreigner in town.

So, now I have a nice new pair of shoes which is a real luxury for me. When I get a chance I'll post a picture of my old shoes, just so you can see what I've had to put up with for the last few months.

Do you remember when I mentioned that at the start of April the Japanese government cut fuel taxes so petrol became cheaper? Well, that lasted a whole month. At the end of April, a group of politicians pushed through another bill which reinstated the tax, as well as adding a little bit more to it. This means two things: 1) petrol prices are higher than ever and 2) I am not a very happy chappy.

The issue of fuel taxes comes down to one major argument, whether or not the money that is collected through the fuel taxes is being used appropriately. The money raised from the taxes is supposed to be used to repair roads, build new roads, build tunnels, improve driving conditions and other similar tasks. The people who support the tax claim that the government's ability to repair roads, build roads etc. relies almost solely on the fuel tax. Without the tax, roads won't be repaired, new roads won't be built and current construction projects won't be finished. The opponents argument is that all this money that is being collected is not being used appropriately. They argue that unnecessary roadwork is being done simply to make use of the money that has been collected.

I can understand both sides of the argument, but as I drive around (which I do a lot) I can't help but notice that a lot of money IS wasted on unnecessary roadworks. I've driven all over Japan and one thing I have noticed is the incredible amount of roads that go nowhere. All over the country, there are thousands and thousands of lovely, perfectly smooth roads that go for a couple of hundred meters then stop in the middle of nowhere. I found one road near my town that would be an absolute treat for drag racing. It is in the middle of the mountains, in an area that has no farms, houses, shops or buildings. It is about as remote as you can get in Japan. At each end of this road is about 7 or 8 kms of winding dirt tracks, which often deteriorate into something resembling a goat path. The road is closed for six months of the year when the snow makes it inaccessible. There is absolutely no purpose for the road, no reason to drive down there other than to 'see what's there'. Yet, for some reason, there is a perfectly straight untouched strip of bitchumen about 3 kms long right in the middle of all this. I was amazed when I found it. After driving slowly along this winding dirt track in the middle of a forest, I suddenly broke though the canopy of trees and it was there. My own personal drag strip, in the middle of nowhere, with no people for 20kms in any direction.

The issue also gets a lot of TV airtime. When the tax was cut, some people who live near a tunnel construction site were interviewed. The tunnel was 85% complete, but now that the tax had been cut the construction had stopped indefinitely. Then the tax was reinstated. There was a show about the numerous toll roads in Hokkaido that were built at great expense but are almost never used - the tolls are too high, the speed limits too low and they usually travel alongside regular free roads. The turning point for me was a story on a town further south in Japan. A number of years ago, a freeway was built through this town. The new freeway passed between a local neighbourhood and an unpopulated mountain. A couple of bridges were built across the freeway so that the locals could still access the mountain if they wanted to. A handful of locals (about half a dozen, I think) complained that they didn't want to walk walk 500m down the road to cross the bridge that accessed the mountain when they wanted to go pick mountain vegetables. They wanted to be able to walk out the front of their house and have direct access to the mountain. So the government built a new series of bridges across the freeway at 100m intervals, just so everyone was happy. Well, it turns out that not everyone was happy after finding out how much it cost. I can't remember the exact figure, but it was many tens of millions of dollars. Maybe even in the hundreds of millions. Just so half a dozen people didn't have to walk an extra 500m on the rare days they went foraging for vegetables in the mountains. This is where my petrol tax dollars go, and that's why I'm not a happy chappy.

After yesterday's mammoth effort, I'm going to push on and finish. There's not much left to write about anyway. On my fourth morning in Beijing, I did a little shopping then caught a taxi to the station. It took me quite a while to find the right place to board the train. The international departures gate was off in a different place to everything else, which made it very confusing. Once I found the right gate, I boarded the train and found myself in a cabin with two other people, a couple from Hong Kong. They were very nice, constantly giving me food and drinks (and cold medicine), and we talked a lot during the journey. One of their hobbies was travelling and meeting foreigners, so they had lots of stories to share in their broken English. Here's a picture of them:

During the long trip back to Hong Kong (about 24hrs, I think) I was able to see more of China from the train. China was certainly an amazing place to visit. There were plenty of bad things about the country, but also plenty of good things. However, my feelings on leaving the country were that I really only saw a tiny part of what China has to offer. The country is so big, with so much left for me to explore, that I think I'll have to go there again some day.

The next day I arrived back in Hong Kong. I was there for three more nights, and on the fourth day I caught a plane back to a very cold and snowy Japan. During those three days in HK many things happened, but only a few are worth writing about.

Firstly, the hotel. While I was in Beijing I decided that I would book a cheap HK hotel to try and save some money. China is a cheap place to travel, but when you're there for over 2 weeks the $s start to add up. Unfortunately, by the time I made a booking there was much left to choose from. The only cheap hotels left was one that had a mix of good reviews and bad reviews. After staying there for 3 nights, I'll give you my review: it was an absolute dump. Admittedly, it was cheap and in an excellent location, but the room was horrible. It was tiny (even by the Japanese standards I'm used to), the bathroom was awful, the shower was just a hose in the bathroom, the bedding was just one thin sheet... I could go on, but I won't. As I said, the location was great. Right near a subway station in the middle of one of the busiest areas of Kowloon. Everything was just outside my door. I guess the one good thing about the crappiness of the room was that it forced me to spend all my waking time outside the hotel.

Just in front of the hotel was a small park where old guys were hanging out 24/7, playing board games, smoking and generally marking time.

All this was literally 10 sec from my hotel.
What else? I spent most of the time in HK doing some shopping, checking out the markets, wandering around and basically trying to relax before having to return to Japan. During this time, I had three awesome experiences.

1) Lasagna. I was wandering around one day and I decided to stop in at a pasta restaurant for lunch. I know, it sound weird - you come to Hong Kong and eat Italian food - but you have to remember that many foods are just not available where I live. Lasagna is one of them. Italian food is popular in Japan, but for some reason they just don't have lasagna at most places. I lve lasagna, so when I went to this restaurant I ordered a big plate of it. It was so good that words just couldn't describe how I felt. In fact, it was so good that I went back there the same day and got more for dinner... heh heh... I was thinking about going there the next day too, but I found something just as good...

2) Indian curry. There are lots of Indians in HK, so I decided to get some Indian food one night. The Indian food was just like the lasagna - orgasmically good. I got a set meal with a selection of curries and a mountain of naan. The curry had the perfect spiciness, hot enough to set my nose running and my eyes watering, but not so hot that it became inedible. I think I'll remember that curry for a long time to come. After the curry I was in a good mood, so I went to get...

3) A massage. HK has lots of massage parlour. There are reflexology massages, body massages and (wink, wink) massages. I went to a proper establishment where I was treated to a 60 min foot and leg massage and a 30 min shoulder and neck massage. By now, I had done so much walking over the previous two weeks that my leg and foot muscles were like stone. The massage lady told me this, and then suggested that I extend my course to include a 'full body' massage upstairs. I told her politely that I was happy with just the leg and shoulder course and she set to work. I sat on a reclining chair watching some Chinese program on a big plasma TV. There were two other customers in the shop, and there were five or six other staff hanging around eating and talking. Honestly, I have no idea what was on the TV, what the other people were talking about, and I can't even remember if they were male or female. The massage was so good that after about 2 mins I was in a dream-like state. It was surreal... there was lots of pain and lots of pleasure. After my course was finished it felt like I had been there for hours, yet at the same time it felt like I had been there for just seconds. It was very strange. I spent the rest of that evening wandering around the night market just taking in the atmosphere. My body felt better than it has in years, and I had a stomach full of curry. It was great.

So, that's it. China is finished. It was a great trip with lots of great memories. I'd like to go back to both HK and China again, as I feel there is still lots left to see, do and eat. Hmm... writing this has made me hungry....

Oh, man... I've had absolutely no urge to write this blog recently. I've had quite a few holidays recently, so I haven't spent much time sitting in front of my computer. However, I've got a few hours spare at work today so my plan is to finish writing about China (only 4 months after I got back... that has to be some kind of record). Anyway, here we go.

So, I woke up early on my second day in Beijing and left the hotel. I hadn't eaten breakfast, so I figured I would pick something up as I was walking. My first stop was Tienanmen Square (which I will call T Square from now on because Tienanmen is too hard to spell). It was about 20 mins walk from my hotel and it was a very pleasant walk through some gardens beside a small frozen stream.


Beijing in winter is really not too busy (especially in the morning) and the weather was pretty good. Actually, I don't remember whether or not I mentioned this already, but the weather during my trip was fantastic. I don't think it rained or snowed once during the two and a half weeks I was away. Beijing was cold (around 1 or 2 degrees), but I had come from arctic Hokkaido so it wasn't bad at all. Amazingly, the sky was usually clear too. Beijing has a reputation for having filthy air, but honestly, I hardly noticed it while I was there (although I got a bit of a cough and runny nose towards the end of my trip, which was probably Beijing's fault). I'm sure it would be much worse in the warmer months.

After 20 mins walking, I arrived in front of the Forbidden palace, which is opposite T Square. There were some tourists around, but it was absolutely nothing compared to what it would have been in the high season. A few days ago, I happened to see photos from a trip to China taken by a teacher here in Japan. He went during May sometime, and the number of people visiting the square and palace was amazing. I was glad I went when I did.

I used the pedestrian subway to cross the massive road separating the palace and the square. I know I've mentioned this before, but one of the things I remember most about Beijing was the size of the roads. Massive.

I wasn't really sure what to expect at T Square. I'd seen footage from the massacre, and I'd seen pictures in books and on the internet. So when I got there, it was slightly underwhelming. I was expecting something ridiculously massive (especially considering the size of things in Beijing), something jaw dropping. But really, it's just a big square. There are some impressive buildings surrounding the square, and there's the mausoleum where you can see the embalmed Mao. T Square is an interesting place, but it kind of lacked atmosphere. It felt a bit stale.




After wandering around the square, I crossed back over to the Forbidden Palace. I used the phrase 'ridiculously massive' before, and I think that it is certainly appropriate for the Palace. The place is just huge. The walls are high, the buildings are big and the area of land that the palace takes up is just incredible. It doesn't seem so big when you drive past or when you see it on a map, but it really is huge.

On arrival at the front entrance, I was greeted with the face of Mao, just another small reminder that I was in a very foreign place. I couldn't imagine visiting a tourist sight in Australia that has portraits of the Queen or the PM at every entrance.



Much of the Forbidden Palace is simply a series of tunnels though the walls and courtyards between walls. First there's a tunnel...


Then there's a courtyard...

Then theres another tunnel, another courtyard, another tunnel etc... Probably the most surprising thing about the Palace is that you actually get to see a whole lot of it before you actually have to buy a ticket. After walking through numerous tunnels and courtyards and seeing lots of walls and gatehouses, I arrived in another courtyard where the army was doing a little training exercise.

Take a good look at these two picture. What is going on here? These pictures could possibly be a great example of the valiant troops of a mighty communist nation performing a spectacular drill in front of one of the most spectacular buildings in the world, in an attempt to inspire pride and patriotism among the Chinese spectators.


Or, if we look at this from another angle, it could be a bunch of guys who don't know one end of a rifle from the other, playing soldier on the basketball court in a courtyard of the Forbidden Palace. Yes, welcome to China...


Actually, this was quite an amusing scene. If you look carefully at the guy on the right in each of the photos, you'll notice that he seems a bit out of place. While the others were standing at attention, his concentration seemed to be lacking a little. He actually made a few wrong turns while they were parading around the square. It was like something out of Stripes or Sgt. Bilko.

Finally, after a fair bit of walking, I bought a ticket and entered the inner area of the palace. The inner area is a series of bridges, courtyards, pavilions, guest rooms, open areas, narrow passages and even some gardens. There are some displays of ancient weapons, money, clothes etc., and a lot of the rooms remained untouched (original furniture, paintings, etc.). There is a lot of information available about the things that went on in the the palace. Signs will tell you that 'in 1602, Shu Xi stayed in this room while he composed the Seven Springs poem, then in 1608, while he was having tea with a guy who was cousin to the 2nd constable of Wu Chu province blah, blah, blah...'. The place is definitely worth visiting, but it would take weeks to see everything. I walked pretty much straight through from south to north, with a few minor detours, and it took about an hour and a half. I estimate that I would have seen about 5% of what was there. Again, I have to mention that I was glad that I went during winter because the crowds were comparatively small. The only problem was that a lot of the buildings were undergoing repair, which ruined the atmosphere a little. Here are a selection of photos:








Here's a good example of some Chinglish. Read the sign.







Finally, I came out the other side of the palace.
I was pretty tired, so I sat down for a rest. As usual, I was approached by a whole lot of people trying to sell various souvenirs and other junk. While I was politely ignoring them, a strange thing happened. Suddenly, there was a murmur, then some shouting, then some screaming, then people started running in every direction. It was if someone had shouted 'Bomb! Bomb!' or something like that. I wish I had had my camera ready, but it was in my bag at the time. I took a shot after everyone had disappeared, so you can compare it with the previous shot. Notice the difference in the number of people. Hmm.
Anyway, as I sat munching on a chocolate bar, the reason for the mass panic became apparent as the police rolled up in their golf cart. I guess all those people selling stuff really shouldn't have been selling stuff.

While I was having a break, I checked the map. I discovered that the Hutongs (the traditional back alley district of Beijing) were only a couple of kms away, so I decided to make them my next stop. While I was walking I got to see more of Bejing's 'real' areas, the places where tourists don't usually go. I got to see shops, schoools, houses, people having a haircut on the street, kids going home from school (even though it was only midday - lucky kids...), people fishing in a lake, people going through other people's trash and lots of other interesting things. As I was walking, I also discovered that I was pretty hungry. I had skipped breakfast planning to pick something up while I was walking, but amazingly I hadn't seen anywhere to get something that actually looked edible. Having walked a very long way without having anything to eat, I was starting to feel pretty tired and lethargic. Consequently, I didn't really feel like taking my camera out of my bag, so I missed out on a lot of great shots of the Hutongs. Basically, the Hutongs are just a series of narrow walled alleys and old houses. The area is dirty and drab, but it is also a very interesting place to visit. Some of the alleys are amazing, and it gives you a glimpse of what life has been like in China over the past few centuries.




After a while, I really started to struggle. I needed something to eat, and I needed it badly. A few days before I had been reading through my Beijing guide book. One of the restaurants mentioned in the book was a place called Hutong Pizza. The guidebook said it was the best pizza in China (whatever that means). While I was walking I started thinking about how good a pizza would be at that moment. I pulled out the guidebook and checked the entry. There was an address, but the location wasn't shown on the map. An address was useless to me as there were no street signs and the streets weren't named on the map. I knew I had almost no chance of finding the pizza restaurant by just wandering around. The Hutongs are a very big place (many sq. kms.) and the alleys twist and turn. It's like a rabbit warren.

So, I but my guidebook back in my bag and started wandering. As I passed the next side alley (literally the next alley - about 5 seconds after I started walking) I noticed a faded red sign sticking out the side of another alley in the distance. The sign could have been for anything (I couldn't read it at that distance), but I decided to go look anyway. Amazingly, it was a sign for the Hutong Pizza restaurant. I can't explain how much of a minor miracle this was. I was starving, wandering around in a maze in the middle of Beijing, thinking about pizza, when all of a sudden I found a pizza restaurant. It was like finding a needle in a stack of haystacks.




I went in to the restaurant just as another group of tourists was entering (a couple of Chinese and a foreign guy). Apart from us, the small restaurant was empty. I ordered a large pizza and a coke, and after an agonizingly long wait my meal arrived. My god... it was one of the best pizzas I've ever had. It was big, hot and delicious. There was absolutely nothing Chinese about it. It was a real pizza. It was so good that my mouth is watering just thinking about it...

After the absolutely awesome meal, I started walking again. After about 20 mins of walking through the maze, I popped out the side of the Hutong and found myself in front of the Bell and Drum Towers. They are two very old towers, one with bells and one with drums. I picked the drum tower (because it was closest), bought a ticket and made my way up the very narrow and steep staircase. The drum tower was only mildly interesting, but it offered a great view of the area that I had just been wandering through.










It was early afternoon, and usually at this time of the day I would head back to my hotel for a break. But, fuelled with a whole pizza, I was full of energy and decided to press on. I pulled out my map and guidebook again. Hmm... what to do next... As I was reading, I had a great idea. I'm in China - why not go see some pandas. The Beijing Zoo was too far to walk, so I decided to take a cab instead. I scribbled down the Chinese characters for 'Beijing Zoo' (yes, learning Japanese can be useful sometimes) and hailed a cab. There was some broken Chinese and nodding and pointing and smiling and about 20 mins later (and at the huge cost of about $2) I was at the Beijing Zoo. I only really wanted to see the pandas, so I bought an entry ticket for the zoo and the panda enclosure and went in.

Even though Beijing Zoo is apparently one of the better zoos in China, some of the enclosures are still pretty bad. The Panda house was ok, but I don't really envy the pandas living there. It was fairly cramped, and the five pandas there were separated into different enclosures (three inside and two outside). Inside, there was a mummy panda, a daddy panda and a baby panda. The mummy and daddy spent my whole visit asleep, but the baby panda did a great job of playing up for the crowd (a busload of Japanese tourists just happened to arrive as I did). It walked around, sat on its rocking chair, sat on its rocking chair upside-down (oh, man... the crowd went bananas when it did that - 'Eeee! Look! It's upside-down! It's so cute!') and played on its own little playground. I went outside just as one of the pandas was having feeding time. The keeper tossed a whole lot of stuff at the panda (yes, 'AT the panda' not 'TO the panda') and it sat around munching on a bamboo root. It was actually quite interesting to watch.

Mummy panda.
Baby panda eating its own foot.
Baby panda playing on the rocking chair.
Baby panda falling off the rocking chair.
Daddy panda taking a nap (or possibly dead).
Hey, that's not a panda.
Outside panda relaxing on the playground.
'Uhh, don't make me get up for lunch...'
'Oh, ok, if I have to.'
Lunch.

That's good bamboo root.Beware! We don't want any suddenness happening!

After the pandas I wandered around the zoo for a little while. It was just your typical zoo. There were lots of animals including ducks...

and monkeys with afros. I like monkeys.

After the zoo caught a taxi back to the hotel for a break. While I was looking through one of the brochures left in my hotel I came across a great idea for the evening, the Beijing Acrobatic Troupe. So, at about 6 o'clock I went off to an old western style theater that is the home of the Beijing acrobats. I bought a ticket and some snacks and joined about 300 other people (about half were foreigners) in the theater. The show was about an hour and a half long and it was great. I'd definitely recommend it for people visiting Beijing. I took a lot of photos, and though I can't remember all the acts, I'll do my best to describe some of the pictures.


If you look carefully, there's a guy flying through the air.
Four people standing on shoulders.
Bendy ladies. Some of this was hard to watch...
More bendy.
I have no idea.
Balancing on rollers.
Umm...
Umm...
Jumping through hoops.
Lots of people on a bike.
Riding a bike.
Outisde the theater.
After this I probably got something to eat and then went back to my hotel. Actually, I can't remember, so we'll just pretend that I did. Overall, this was the best day of my trip - T Square, Forbidden City, Hutong, Pizza, Pandas and a great night show.

---

Beijing Day 3. I woke up early again, skipped breakfast again and headed out to a bus station on the other side of the city. My goal was to find a bus to take me to the Great Wall. Unfortunately, as it was low season there were few buses (and I think they all left very early in the morning anyway - I was too late). As I arrived at the bus station I was accosted by this private driver who wanted to drive me to the wall. I ignored him and continued searching for the Great Wall bus. After I couldn't find one, I was standing around wondering what to do when the same guy approached me.

"Come on! I take you to wall! Cheap, cheap!"

This time I decided to hear him out. He offered to drive me there in his private car, wait for me while I climbed the wall, then drive me back, all expenses paid. He quoted a price, and we bargained a little. After a little while I gave up, agreed to a price and we left. There are three areas of the wall that are accessible from Beijing. I chose to visit Mutianyu, a section of the wall about 70km north of Beijing. Mutianyu was advertised as being a less touristy, more rugged part of the wall, which appealed to me.

It was great having my own personal chauffeur. I just sat in the back of the car and enjoyed the scenery while the diver concentrated on getting us there. The Beijing suburbs are pretty much the same as any big city, but once you get on the freeway and get out of the city it becomes very rural very quickly. Actually, rural is probably not the best word. Desolate is a better word. We drove on wide concrete roads which were almost empty. We passed barren field after barren field. There were farmhouses and factories scattered here and there, but mostly it was quiet. It was such an amazing change from Beijing.

We passed through a few small towns which were very much like the other small towns I had seen in China - dirty and drab, but functional. Occasionally we passed something completely out of place, like a brand new colorful jungle gym in a small park in the middle of nowhere. All the people I saw seemed to be content going about their daily business. Some people were obviously working, doing things like pulling around a cart filled with fruit or tending flowers in a small garden, while others just seemed to be passing time.

As we got nearer the wall the terrain changed. It suddenly got very rugged and mountainous. When I started seeing some more restaurants and souvenir shops than I would expect to see on a mountain, I assumed we were getting close. Finally, at around 11 o'clock we arrived. The driver explained where he would park, then he took me off to get a ticket. As it was low season, there were very few people there. Actually, there were more people running souvenir stalls than there were tourists. The ticket booth was closed, which confused my driver a little, but finally we found a place to get a ticket. The ticket was actually a little DVD which you swipe on the turnstile for entry, then take home as a souvenir.

After going through the gate I jumped on a chairlift to take me up the mountain. The first thing that surprised me was how high up the mountain the wall is built. This section of the wall is literally built right across the top of a very steep mountain. The second thing that surprised me was the steepness of the wall. Some sections are so steep that you can climb up using your hands and feet. I'd been doing plenty of walking during my trip, but walking just a few hundred meters along the wall was an absolute killer. It was so steep that other people were stopping every couple of minutes for a break.

However, I pushed on. I passed through gatehouses and turrets and walked for a good half an hour before I came to one end of this section of the wall (you can only walk on certain sections). I sat down and had a snack while I enjoyed the awesome scenery. It was a surreal moment. Not only was I in China on the Great Wall, but I pretty much had the whole wall to myself. There were very few tourists, and many gave up when the wall got too steep.

I'd always wondered what it would be like to see the Great Wall. I always fascinated by how something as simple as a wall could be considered such an amazing achievement. I guess I went there planning to be underwhelmed (hey, it's just a wall!), so I was pleasantly surprised by my experience.

It is, in fact, just a wall. It's not even that high in most places. You could probably climb over it without too much trouble. The trouble comes when you see where the wall is. It is on top of a mountain. On each side of the wall is a steep drop and more rugged terrain. There is no way an army could get within 10kms of the wall without being seen. And even if they did, they would expend so much energy getting up the mountain that by the time they reached the wall they could be turned back with very little effort. It really is an incredible construction, especially when you consider the length of it. It must have taken so much effort to build. Just thinking about it makes me tired.

After a while I headed back to the chairlift. Along the way I met a guy who was selling drinks and snack. He gave me a sob story about how he has to walk from his home in Inner Mongolia every day just to climb the wall and sell stuff to tourists.

'Inner Mongolia?', I asked.
'Yeah', he said. He pointed over one side of the wall. 'China.' He pointed over the other side of the wall. 'Inner Mongolia.'
'Okay...'

So, I bought an overpriced chocolate bar and an overpriced drink, and in return the guy took a picture of me.

After that, I decided to head back to the car. I had taken a chairlift up the mountain, but there was a much better way to get down - a toboggan ride! Just like Gumbuya Park, where the city meets the country... The toboggan course was a couple of kms long. There were a few other tourists waiting in line when I arrived. The lady running the toboggans was pissed off about something and she was screaming at her assistant. Nobody really knew what was going on. After a while the assistant left and the lady started sending us down one at a time. She explained how to drive the toboggan ('Push this! No slow! You go now!') and sent us on our way. She got angry at a few people who were going too slowly, then it was my turn. I let the person in front of me get a good couple of hundred meters ahead, then I pushed hard on the stick and rolled away. It was a fun ride and I was able to pick up a fair amount of speed, until about 1/3 of the way down when I ran into a massive traffic jam. Somebody either wasn't using there stick properly or had a faulty toboggan. Either way, they were going way too slowly. The rest of the ride was done at a snails pace, which gave me time to have a chat with the people in front and behind. As we reached the terminus, the lady there was even more pissed than the lady at the top. 'You push hard! No go slow! Slow bad!!', she shouted at the guy who was holding everyone up.

I wandered back down to the car park, found my driver and headed back to town. When we arrived back, I payed the driver and he tried to make me pay for the road tolls too. I politely told him to get stuffed, but he was happy and didn't try more than once. This suggests to me that I probably paid too much in the first place, but I'm not too worried. I think it cost about $35 all up, which is dirt cheap for a private chauffeur for half a day. If I'd gone in a group it would have worked out even cheaper. Maybe next time.

Here are some of the photos I took:
















After that, I had a meal, did some shopping, got a train ticket for the next day and then headed back to the hotel. It was uneventful, but I still had a good time. And I took a picture of one of the strangest stations I've ever seen when I bought a train ticket. It was like a castle:



Overall, this was a great day and I would certainly recommend getting a private car and visiting the wall if you're ever in Beijing.