where cider meets condensed milk: The great, great, great, great.... wall.

where cider meets condensed milk

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

The great, great, great, great.... wall.

The year of jet-setting around Asia continues with today's chapter: China. Adam D and I took advantage of our Board of Education's generous vacation policy, and spent all of spring break traveling around the world's most populous country. It was busy and exhausting, and every traveller's stereotype about China was confirmed at some point, but we had lots of fun. With only 11 days, it was a bit of a whistlestop tour, so we did a loop from Beijing to Xian to Shanghai and back up to Beijing. On Friday, we dropped the Guppy at Bob-san Park 'n' Park, and only made the 5am train to Okayama after sprinting to the station, but otherwise our trip from Japan to Beijing was painless. We set off from Beijing on the first full day to see the Great Wall at Badaling. It was gorgeous and amazing, and everyone there (mostly Chinese, with scattered foreigners) was equally excited, which resulted in lots of positive energy and laughter. In a country that loves its giant stone walls, it seemed appropriate to kick off the journey with a visit to the One Wall to Rule Them All.