"I feel like I'm in Lord of the Rings"

Today was one of my most anticipated days on the whole trip, we were going to the Great Wall of China! First on our agenda, though, was stopping off at a kung fu school. It is a boarding school where students take lessons and classes till they graduate at 18. They showed us a spectacular performance. From shattering porcelain bowls with one chop, to breaking 6 ft pieces of wood with their collarbone, the performance was incredibly impressive. Afterwards, they gave us a few lessons, and as I’m sure you can imagine, I was born to be a kung fu warrior.





After an hour drive, and a PonderGROSSa lunch, we had arrived at the Great Wall! When we stepped off the bus, vendors of all kinds selling tons of Great Wall paraphernalia lined the steep slope up to the cable cars. We were at the Great Wall-Mutianyu section, which according to the sign, was home to the best cable cars. We slowly ascended up the steep mountain, taking in the full view of the landscape. Once we stepped off and arrived at the first ledge, the sight was nothing I could have ever imagined. The wall snaked miles from east to west along the very tip of the steep snowy mountains. It was built during the Ming Dynasty (1364-1688) and stretches over 5,500 miles. The architecture is truly incredible, and to me it seems virtually impossible how almost 700 years ago they had the technology to build such a fortress at the top of such a high mountain (this is probably why its one of the seven wonders of the world). I’ll just let the pictures do the rest of the talking:

Cable car:








This was probably not safe seeing as there was a 50 foot drop on the other side:


My attempt at being artsy:


View from the wall:


The towers of the wall could be seen from really far distances:


Jason and I with our tour guide, also named Jason:

When it was time to go down, we had three choices. Walk, take the cable car, or ride down a half mile track on a toboggan. I think we all know which one I chose. The ride was by far the coolest thing I have ever done. You fly around curves while taking in the view of the beautiful mountainside.





After a sad goodbye, we left the Great Wall to go to dinner and to an acrobatic show. The acrobatic show was amazing. The Chinese can do things with their bodies that just doesn’t seem natural. There were constant ooing and awing with the occasional gasps. It was a great way to end our trip in Beijing.