As you read our first day in Beijing was awesome! Day 2 was just as good because we climbed the GREAT WALL!!!!! The Great Wall basically takes a whole day because it is on the outskirts of Beijing. After a few mishaps, we made it to the right bus station that takes you to the Great Wall. We rode on a bus for about an hour and a half to get to Badaling. There are many different sections of the wall you can go to, but our friends suggested Badaling, so that’s where we headed.
We were both so excited! This was the entrance to the Great Wall. The weather was actually really nice that day. A little colder than I like, but after climbing I was happy it wasn’t a warm day.
Headed on up!
You can check out the rest of the pictures of our climb below.
Just touching the Great Wall no big!
This was taken at the highest point we climbed. It was amazing!
It was a very surreal experience. We both kept saying, “I can’t believe we are standing on the Great Wall right now”. It was one of the most breath taking sights I have ever seen. The nature that surrounds it and the actual structure of the wall were incredible. It just reminded me how blessed I am to be on this adventure in China. Not many people can say they have climbed the Great Wall. It wasn’t an easy climb though, it is so steep! Most of the steps are not at the same height either, so you really have to focus on what you are doing.
After climbing the Wall for several hours, we were both starving! Luckily, there just happens to be a Subway located right outside the entrance. It was fantastic. They had the same cookies and everything just like home. Yummy! We finished up lunch and headed to some of the gift shops around the area. And look what we found…
After this amazing find, we got back on the bus to downtown Beijing, where we found Cold Stone. I’m telling you Beijing is amazing with all of their Western food. I got mocha ice cream with Snickers bars and caramel. So good! We walked around the city more that night, and then headed to bed.
Our last day in Beijing started off with coffee from Starbucks. I know I take pictures and talk about food a lot on here, but you have to understand that Western food just isn't available to us on a regular basis. We only have KFC in Huangshi and that is it.
My Toffee Nut Latte and panda hat (Yes, I wore this hat all day long!)
The rest of our last day could easily be called Shop 'til You Drop! Literally all we did was shop the whole day. We started at the Silk Market, which is like NYC China town on steroids. They had anything and everything you can imagine including silk ties, silk scarves, shoes, purses, clothes, accessories, knockoffs (Ugg, Polo, Chanel, etc.) It was amazing! Let me just tell you that Lesley and I are awesome at bargaining with the vendors. When we got back to Huangshi, we showed one of our Chinese friends our purchases and told her how much we paid for it all and she was very impressed! (Mom, you would have been proud!) My favorite part of shopping was trying to see how much we could get them to go down on their original price. So fun!
We headed to the Snack Street after to grab some lunch on the go, as well as a coconut drink.
We wrapped up our last day in Beijing at the Pearl Market. It was very similar to the Silk Market, but had pearls as well. Before leaving, we ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant (one of our only Chinese meals of the trip) and then grabbed our luggage from the hotel and taxied to the train station.
On the train headed back to Huangshi
That wraps up our trip to Beijing. Although it was only a short 3 day trip, I am so glad we decided to go. It was a much needed break for our routine. There was so much we didn't get to see while we were there, so I think another trip to Beijing is in my future!
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