The Wall! (Or I am strong enough)

Today we had the opportunity to enjoy the breakfast buffet of our hotel. The selection was large, there were both European and Chinese dishes. Eggs were freshly fried. We lacked nothing and the coffee was hot enough.

Even on our last day in Beijing, the weather was favorable to us: the sky 'Beijing blue', sunshine, 9 degrees Celsius and a little windy. We did not experience the infamous smog. According to our tour guide, since 2016, all heaters have been converted from coal to electricity or gas. And many cars are electric, the buses will be converted starting this year. This year there have only been ten days of smog. It is somewhat alarming how quickly this nation is developing.

On our 90-minute journey to the 55 km distant wall, Jing brought us closer to the Chinese pictorial language that is taught in elementary school.

At the beginning, 7 cities had a city wall, which was connected in the Jing Dynasty and later expanded to 5000 km. 221 houses or towers were built. Every 140 meters a watchtower. We visited a part from the Ming Dynasty, where the wall served as a defense against the Mongols.

We caught our first glimpse of the wall in Dong Yuan Cun from the bus. Very impressive!!! Especially considering that this part was built during the Ming Dynasty, so in the Middle Ages.

With today's visit, we have walked 5 out of a total of almost 6000 km of the largest structure on earth!!!!
Man, that was exhausting!!!
Somehow I hadn't pictured it like this. The stairs that never seemed to end were sometimes 40 cm high. It took us an hour to reach Fort 12, up on the mountain. Cher's song 'I'm strong enough' kept playing in my head. Don't look up, just take one step after another and climb the next step! Step by step! But the view from the top was overwhelming! The efforts and tomorrow's muscle soreness were definitely worth it. But not only the ascent was strenuous, going down was also not always easy with the sometimes very high stairs.

After this tour, we deserved our lunch. The restaurant was huge, which cannot be said for the portions. We even ordered something extra.

Right after that, we went to a state-owned jade factory next door. Unfortunately, they didn't tell us anything about the production, but the selection was huge.

After this shopping spree, we drove back to the city. Opposite the Drum Tower, we visited a tea ceremony. Of course, you could also buy tea there. But since I don't know the prices for tea and 36 € seemed quite expensive to me for a jasmine tea, I decided not to buy it.

Then we went up to the Drum Tower point and again it was climbing stairs. But this time there were only 69. You were rewarded with a beautiful view of Beijing just before sunset.
At 4:45 pm, the gates of the outdoor terraces were closed and there was a drum performance. In the past, the drums were beaten in the evenings while the bells were rung in the mornings. The drums were barrels covered with cowhide, measuring 1.40 m in diameter and 2 m in length. It was also an interesting experience. Fortunately, it wasn't as loud as one might have expected.

In the twilight, we visited the Houhai Lake, a popular destination especially in the evenings in Beijing. Restaurants, music, and a good atmosphere are its trademarks. We took a long walk, even though we had already walked enough today. On the way, we walked through parts of the old town again, which is being restored and is under monument protection.

Then we went to Jin Din Xuan in a shopping mall for dinner. The food here was very tasty and sufficient, but we missed a bit of sweet and sour and a dessert. But at least we didn't freeze, because it was very warm in the shopping mall.

The last item on today's agenda was a walk through the pedestrian zone and the food street of Beijing. Since we didn't feel like walking anymore, we were glad that the pedestrian zone was very short and the food street was not a mile long either. The latter was, however, very interesting again: they offered things like roasted sparrow, crabs, fat worms, and scorpions that were still wriggling before being crispy fried. Since we didn't get a dessert, we could make up for it here with, for example, candied fruits or roasted chestnuts.
We didn't find dogs as food and the tour guide explained that it is more of a Korean cuisine and is only found in the south of China. However, we have seen quite a few living dogs today, all of them looking tidy and well-fed. We haven't seen any cats in China yet...