Beijing Day two

One of those planned tour deals, similar to the ones i took in Peru. The main events were the Ming Tombs and the Great Wall, but the tour also included stops at a jade factory and a school of traditional Chinese medicine. Neither of the latter two would have been bad, except that in these circumstances the stops were geared solely towards selling us stuff.

The tactic reminded me of Bangkok's more devious methods, where the taxi driver insisted that the Royal Palace was closed and that we should visit a jewelry shop. I wonder if the scam will propagate to Peru, and if it does, how long it will take to get there. What is the velocity of scams?

The scams left me with but two hours to walk 7km through to the highest point of the Badaling section of the Great Wall, and 7km back. There is a lift that takes tourists most of the way, but using that didn't seem right - workers bodies are buried in this wall, having toiled to death building it. Least i could do was walk along part of it. Parts of the wall slope at 45, 60 ° angles. Parts of these slopes have steps, parts don't. Walking the non-sloped parts reminded me of climbing around sandstone in Utah.

I made it to the top and back with 20 minutes to spare, and had plenty of time to shoot, look, sit, and ponder. Cycling throughout the year has paid off.