China - The Great Wall

In Beijing, John and I met up with his cousins Ron and Brett along with Joey (Ron's son) and Leslie (Brett's girlfriend). Brett & Leslie flew over to China and then took the overnight train with Ron and Joey to Beijing (they went First Class and had a private, 4-bunk "room"). They were picked up at the train station by our weekend driver, Michael, and taken to our hotel to check in and get John and me. We headed for the Great Wall. The most popular and closest access to the wall is 70km from Beijing (Badaling). Our driver took us 90km to a location that is less crowded (Mutianyu). We paid the admission plus a bit extra to take the cable car up and the sled down instead of the bazillion stairs to and from the wall.

Looking back from our cable car to see Joey & Ron ready to catch their lift.

Video of John on the way up to the Great Wall.

The view through one of the tower windows.

The Great Wall weaving its way along the hills.

The gang on the wall: me, John, Ron, Joey, Brett, and Leslie

Another view from a tower window catching a glimpse of the town/parking lot, ski lift, and a bit of the sled track.

Yep, we are Buckeyes and can spell our state name (Go OSU!).

The outer wall

Me on the Great Wall of China!!

Gargoyles on a tower roof.

The fastest way to get down from the wall is the luge sled on a metal track. Signs and people are posted along the way to encourage the tourists to go slowly and keep a safe distance between sleds. Not that it deterred anyone in our group...being yelled at in Chinese through a megaphone makes even less sense than regular Chinese, which most of us don't know. The only things slowing us down were the Chinese businessmen who had the poor luck of getting onto sleds in front of our group and going painfully slow. Who wants a bunch of Westerners yelling & laughing down a mountain and sliding at high speeds behind them??!

An aerial view of the sleds and track.

Me in my sled - the only control was a stick. Forward (almost to the floor) to go and Back for brake.

Leslie going around a curve.

Brett (in red) and John stuck behind the slow-pokes.