Qinglongqiao

Another big ticket item ticked off the list today. Vela did some research and made the call to not head to Badaling until the afternoon. This would give the morning crowds time to disperse and the temperature should be a bit cooler and more pleasant.

The plan worked perfectly. So after we caught two metro trains and then a bigger inter city train, we arrived at Badaling about 3pm. After a short walk through some tourist streets we arrived at the foot of the Great Wall. It really is an amazing spectacle, and although we've been here before, it was under very different weather conditions. It was also mum and dad's first visit and they were pretty excited. We were a little worried about how they would cope with some of the steep stairs, but they handled them like champs.

Obviously the wall is not in its original condition, having been restored many times throughout its life, but seeing it stretch off into the distance over the mountains and imagining how it would have been constructed blows the mind.

Our original plan was to walk up to the highest point at Badaling and then catch the cable car back down. We thought the last cable car was 6pm but unfortunately it was 4.30pm and the last one left only moments before we arrived. This meant we had to walk back instead. Rather than tackling the steep stairs in reverse, we opted for the easier walk along the bottom of the wall. After getting back to the bottom, we rewarded ourselves with an ice cream.

We caught our train back at 6.50pm and promptly headed to a hot pot restaurant. This hot pot was a little different, and being a bigger chain restaurant it priced itself on its service. Our waiter was fantastic and kept bringing us gifts - saying it was his privilege to wait on us (we were definitely getting the special "Laowai" treatment). We were even treated to a live noodle stretching dance show - even Vela was impressed!Read more