Mutianyu Great Wall, Huairou District, Beijing, China

We arrived in Beijing on a Monday evening and by Friday morning we were on a bus to the Great Wall of China.  The enormity of it did not truly sink in, but we were on our way.  The trip was organized by the school to be as easy as possible for the group of over 65 of us ‘Newbies’.  The section of the wall we went to is Mutanuyi.  It’s a bit further from Beijing and not quite as busy, but beautifully restored for a long section.  We were warned that it would be hot, but nothing could prepare us for how hot it actually was!

We took a chair lift to the top where we ate a quick lunch from Subway (side note—it’s a bizarre experience to be in China, about to see one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and pass by a Subway and Baskin Robbins). Because of the heat, we did not push ourselves or the girls to walk too far.  We walked slowly up and down the stairs taking in our amazing surroundings, the mountains, the wall, and all of the history.  It was crazy to think we can come back again anytime.

The girls did an amazing job dealing with all of the heat and elements and enjoyed the experience.  We had a quick ice cream bar on the top of the mountain before we took the toboggan ride down.  It was a fun to ride down from the Great Wall on a sled.  We are all very tired at the end of this memorable day.