Woke up early and headed to the flag raising ceremony. New flag goes up each day at sunrise. It was at 6:10am this day in particular. It was very stately. Soldiers left the gate under Mao's portrait, crossed the street, and then raised the flag, and proceeded back.
To the right, across the street, after the flag was raised.
Headed back, saw this building.
Breakfast sandwich. Spicy and good. Egg thingy.
Street with cool looking sun (haze / pollution?)
Breakfast. $1.
A few hours later, at this section of the wall:
http://www.mutianyugreatwall.net/
Up the street where there are lots of vendors.
Taking one of the two gondolas up. Bat the tour guide to the left. Enrico to the right.
Looking out on the other side. Much of the wall is rebuilt. Villages through the centuries used brick from the wall after decommission. Not sure how Mongolians would ever infiltrate this wall when it was in its prime.
In distance, you can see the steep section we climbed.
So many stairs....
Tough workout.
The section after the steep section
Looking back, a food stand person took my photo on this steep section.
She had a flag and let me wave it. Note there is a water bottle in the last picture, but not in this one below. Yes, I dropped it, and yes, gravity worked to cause it to roll down.
Possibly an ancient piece of the original wall?
Looking out from one of the many towers
We took the easy way up. Now the easy way down:
And now, lunch in the town below the great wall. Family style once more.
And off to the silk market after traveling back to Beijing. Negotiation skills here are key. Keep your arms safe or you might get pulled into a store, literally. I usually felt good when getting around 10% - 20% of the original asking price.
