Oriental Adventure, Day 2

After a good night and preparation for the weather, we are ready for day 2 itinerary - The Great Wall of China. We've prepared for the worst weather by preparing additional thermal wear in our bags. Apparently, we got out slightly earlier so our guide brought us to a Jade factory which was along the way. Of course the cost of jade isn't cheap, everyone left empty-handed.

Next up, the Great Wall of China. Unknowingly, a bucket list of mine is to a least visit one of the 7 wonders of the world (the replicas in Shenzhen does not count). I did wanted to visit Beijing on my own but I'm grateful that I went with Hakimbo. I may understand Mandarin but I just can't get the words out of my mouth.

The steep section of the Juyongguan
Great Wall

There are many spots to the visit the Great Wall and we were brought to the Juyongguan section. There are 2 section of the great wall climb, a steep climb to the left and a gradual climb on the right. As we're the gung-ho type, we proceeded to steep section. The stairs were very narrow and high with snow formation on the sides. Going up can be quite a challenge.

We managed to proceed up to the first watch tower and the next watch tower was quite far with a more gradual climb. Due to time constrain, we just stayed at the first tower and enjoyed the view and weather. Thank god, we were able to withstand the weather due to our thermal clothing. The cold weather and the climb however made up slightly asthmatic due to the thin air. Both of us were gagging for breath.

We also made close friends with an American family living in Singapore. We were amazed that their 2 kids (aged 3 and 6 were able to climb the steep steps). We stayed together and helped them on our way down.

After the Great Wall, we returned back to the Jade Factory for Lunch and then proceeding to another factory - Medicine. I'm really puzzled why they brought us to all this places where we didn't find a need for it. Sure everything is made in China. They should bring us to factories that made the branded goods like shoes, clothes etc. They are more practical.

After which we were brought to another shopping location but luckily it's more consumer basis at Wangfujing Street. It's a long stretch of shopping district similar to Orchard with many great brands. Given only 2 hours, we only managed to skim through the malls and came out empty handed. While walking on the streets, 2 girls just came up to us and had a conversation. Hiding our freaked-out faces, we told them we were in a rush when they invited us to sit for coffee. Then on, we had our suspicions - there are no free-lunch in China. We managed to break loose and continued wandering around.

There is a food alley that I've read that sells all the weird stuffs. We did planned to try some but after looking at it, we kind of gag. The PRC eats anything that moves from scorpions, locust, starfish (have not seen it move in real life), dog meat etc. There are other good food available but I really wonder why they resort to such bizarre things.

The same alley also consist of souvenirs and the owners really wish to rip money off you. They would quote very high prices and you can bargain up to 75% off the initial price (if you're good at it). Some would even pull you aside to sell you items. That was truly insane and thank God I was mistaken for a Chinese (OK, not sure whether that was a good thing).

Next is dinner at one of the restaurants in Wangfujing before moving on to an optional tour of Martial Arts performance. We didn't really fancy the show so we opted out and waited at a cafe nearby making friends to another group from our tour.

Again, we returned to the hotel late and wasn't able to go for the spa. So we just sleep in and was satisfied in conquering the main attractions of Beijing.