Grant's Great Wall adventure

Just a few minutes ago we all finished hiking a small section of the Great Wall. I did not know what to expect and could hardly contain my excitement as we started the climb up the wall (at a quick jog thanks to our enthusiasm). After a little while, I rested for a minute or so. The thin air and steep, somewhat crowded steps near the base were by far the most tiring. At least there were few other tour groups, after seeing countless hundreds of them at the Forbidden City and Summer Palace. After every small section of the wall there would be a guard tower where I would snap a few pictures and see some Chinese men smoking. Even on the higher sections of the wall there were vendors, an inescapable element of our trip so far in Beijing. Because of the clouds and fog obscuring the top, I actually did not know how high or far the wall would go, but after 45 minutes I reached the top, where the entire sky around the tower was obscured by fog/clouds/smog. At the top of the wall there were much fewer people; only the strong were able to survive at this height. The way down was actually a good deal easier and only took about 20 minutes. Many people bought T-shirts proclaiming “I climbed the Great Wall”. The Great Wall was definitely one of the highlights of the trip so far.