Wall of Greatness

My, my, how fast the weather has changed in this city. By far, Fall has been absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately, in one day, the temperature dropped 20 F, and the wind chill only makes it feel colder.

To take advantage of the perfect hiking weather, Bing took us on the 11K Great Wall hike. I was definitely not prepared, physically, or mentally, for this task. First off, I thought that it would be a pretty flat hike with some up and down stairs trekking, was I wrong! If this hike were in the States, it would most definitely have been closed down. There were parts so steep and broken, without the right shoes, one would definitely have fallen off the wall to their death. We left around 10 A.M. and didn't get back until 8 P.M. last night. I'm just extremely proud to even accomplished that hike, considering I haven't worked out since I broke my collar bone! (Which reminds me, SNOWBOARDING this year! I'm extremely excited, as well as the fact that Mike will be coming with me this year! Thanks Mom and Dad!)

After we finished our hike, what better way to end the day than to Zipline off the Great Wall into the sunset!

Well, this is our last week before mid-term break. I've decided to stay in Beijing, since I think it's probably a smart idea to save money, seeing that the economy I have to return to isn't one warm towards opening paid job opportunities to me. Also, I really haven't seen everything Beijing has to offer yet. Perhaps a trip back to Fragrant Mountains would be a good idea, hopefully with the turn of leaf colors.

Well, I'm burnt. Just typed a 500 character Chinese essay, and have to meet with my language partner in 20 minutes. Until next time.

All the way from the city with the wall of greatness.