The Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is truly great. I hate to sound all cliche-ish, but it really is spectacular! When you stop and think about how much man power went into a 5000km wall across the mountains in China, your jaw drops. Especially when you realize just how futile a wall like that is - how can you possibly man it, for one thing!?!?!?

Anyway, I went to the section called Mutianyu, about 70km northeast of Beijing. I was in a little minivan with 8 other people, and not 20 minutes into our trip we blew out a tire! So our poor driver was changing the tire on the side of the highway, and Beijing drivers are not known for their safety and civility!!!

After about 2 hours, we arrived. Mutianyu is less touristy, but has been pretty well preserved/updated, so it's not the hard core original rubble that's still left in some other places. I ended up walking through about 20 guard tours and up and down so many steps there's no way I could keep track!!!

But just looking out into the mountains, standing on one of the wonders of the world, took my breath away. Pictures don't even do it justice!!!