Asia, Stop 1: Beijing

Our Asian winter adventure began with a day in China. Although we were headed for SE Asia, we had the option of choosing a flight with a long layover in Beijing. We loved the idea of getting a free day there to see The Great Wall and bit of downtown. We looked into a few different organizations that do layover tours, but eventually got in touch with a local friend who graciously offered to pick us up and show us around the place. She even brought us coats and hot coffee, since it was about 20F at the time, and our backpacks were filled with clothes suited for the other 99% of our journey to tropical beaches and other hot places. We took a taxi to a section of the wall just outside the city, and climbed the many steps up the hillside to the base of the wall and up onto the elevated path which snakes along the vast mountain range. From there, we enjoyed panoramic views and an incredible sense of scale, taking in just how extensive the wall truly is. It was much like staring at the ocean and realizing that even the farthest visible point is only the beginning. We were amazed at how they managed to build a 5,000 mile wall so long ago which still stands today.

Enjoying the beautiful writing of this language, printed on a rock near our entrance to the Great Wall.

Inside one of the many fortresses built into the wall.

With our sweet friend, Maggie.

After a few hours at the wall, we drove back into town and braved the metro systems, unbelievably packed with busy people all wearing dust masks because of the pollution, and eventually popped up in downtown Beijing, ready for some food!

A busy street in downtown Beijing.

Our Chinese meal, dipping raw ingredients into hot flavored oils.

Overall, we were very impressed with what we saw in such a short amount of time, and greatly enjoyed getting to better know a local person. We would definitely come back for a longer stay to see more of the city and experience more of Chinese cuisine and culture. But for now, it was back onto an airplane, and headed to warmer weather! Next stop: Vietnam.