The Really Rather Great Wall Of China

Yesterday it was cold, overcast with a touch of sporadic snow and Sunday. Hence when we went to the Great Wall, we were pretty much the only people there. In fact, we didn’t pass one person at all, giving us the impression that we kind of owned the big rocky thing.





The lack of attendance wasn’t just limited to the tourists – there was no axe-wielding guard defending the area beyond the ‘No Entry’ section, so we went off-road and scrambled our way through a more hazardous stretch of the crumbling wall.








Not great for £19.99 black brogues bought through eBay, but it did bag us a fantastic picnic spot – we’d even bought a cheese knife especially.







It was all a bit ‘Lord Of The Rings’, and rather tranquil and beautiful, with a smidgering of snow here and there. Although the trek reminded me just how chronically unfit I am – after about 20 high steps I was panting like an overweight Labrador in summer.

All that excursion made us build up a bit of a hunger, so we ate an outrageous amount of dumplings (the waitress found us rather amusing) at a restaurant in the evening before watching ‘The Apprentice’. Obviously, this was the best day of my China visit so far.