Our next-to-last day in China. . .and perhaps the most famous and iconic of China's landmarks awaits us: The Great Wall. This was my sixth visit to the Great Wall, but only my second at the BaDaLing location. My other visits were at the JinShanLing portion of the wall in Hebei Province. For Lynne, of course, this was her first visit to the Great Wall. She was excited, nervous, eager and chompin' at the bit to get going.
Because we were staying in Beijing, we visited the BaDaLing section of the wall - not only for its proximity to Beijing, but because it is most easily accessed by a tram-ride to the top! Some might call this cheating. I call it smart. More time on the Wall! Yeah, baby. BaDaLing is also the most commercialized section of the Great Wall. Lots of souvenir shops and skinny, ninety-year-old Chinese women vendors hawking their wares at the top of their lungs.
Because it's the most commercialized and visited by an average of sixty or more tourist buses each day, there is seldom a lack of human activity on the wall (another reason I prefer the remoteness of JinShanLing). In fact, on most days, you can press more flesh on the BaDaLing wall than you could at a Richard Simmons "Sweatin' to the Oldies" Dance Fest.
The drive from the heart of downtown Beijing to BaDaLing was beautiful. Blue skies, a very comfortable 85 degrees and a slight breeze made for a great afternoon.
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