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The Great Wall, ChinaJan 23, 2008
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The gondola ride to the top
Badaling Great Wall
More Wall
Our trip to Beijing wouldn't have been complete without a day trip to the Great Wall. We decided to check out the Great Wall at Badaling, which is one of the easiest parts of the wall to get to. Once there, we hiked to the top of the wall, and were able to see the wall continuing on into the distance. It really is amazing how they were able to build that big of a structure on mountain ridges. It was used to keep Mongolian invaders out, and was used for about 2500 years.
Since it was soo cold outside, we pretty much had the whole wall to ourselves, which was great. Not a lot of tourists willing to brave the Siberian winds and hike to the top. It was cold, but definitely worth it!
Another sight that Bryan went to was the Olympic Stadium. It is still under construction for the summer games, but he was able to take a sneak peek.
Back in Beijing, there was not much more to do than wait for our flight out. We were palnning on seeing a little more of China, however, our plans to visit X'ian changed when we found out that all of the trains, planes, and buses were full for the next week. (due to Chinese New Year) Rather than get stuck in the freezing conditions for 7 days, we are going to head to Bangkok!
