Day Three - The Great Wall

We had to make a 07:00 start in order to avoid the rush hour traffic and reach the Great Wall at the Juyong Pass before the crowds arrived (A feat in itself for me and Bev, although we were to grow accustomed to early starts!). Although it was still 'Golden Week', as the week of the National Day holiday is known, people were now beginning to make their way home which meant a lot of traffic on the roads leading to the smoggy weather.  Away from the city it wasn't smoggy but unfortunately it was still misty which was a shame as the views would have been even more spectacular in clear weather.

It's pretty steep!

We climbed to the second watchtower on the wall. It's surprisingly steep and quite narrow in places.

Girl posing in traditional costume

On the way down we met the crowds who'd arrived later coming up. It made us much more appreciative of Jason (our guide) making us leave so early!

Down towards the pass

The wall crossing the river

The views over the actual pass were also fantastic - even in the mist.

Once we got back down we felt we'd earned a (very good) coffee and I had time for a sketch. That's the great thing about sketching - it doesn't matter if the visibility is poor - you can always draw. 

When we got back to Beijing we discovered that our early start had been an even better idea than anyone had thought. Out on the Beijing Expressway there had been the granddaddy of all traffic jams, it was even reported over here - in The Mirror