The Great Wall of China

As promised, here is The Great Wall of China! I went there with my client (http://www.keyconsulting.com.cn) who was training another business about team work and communication. It was a busy week-end but still quite enjoyable. As far as I was concerned, the simple fact of getting out of the city and into the countryside for the first time in 2 months was a blast in itself. Plus, Mother Nature reserved us the nicest weather and blue sky I had seen in a while. I was glued to the windshield for the whole 2 and a half hour trip which seemed to last a few minutes only.







We were welcomed with a lamb on BBQ coal grill. At least I think it was lamb from the looks of the carcasses. We hate and drank quite well indeed during our stay. So after a little bonfire party, we all gathered up, geared up and headed out to spend the night under stars on The Great Wall. The sky was filled with stars. I did not sleep very much, partly because it was rather chilly but mostly because I setup my cell phone to wake me up at 4h00 AM. I wanted to make sure not to miss the sunrise and I wanted to be at the most elevated point of it so that I could get a nice overview. So I got up pretty much in the middle of the night, packed up my stuff, tiptoed over my comrades and headed out alone with my head lamp, my two backpacks containing two sleeping bags, some warm clothes and all my camera gear. As you can see on the photos, the wall is far from being nice, smooth and even all over. Many parts are actually quite in ruins. Fortunately, the night was calm, the breeze fresh and the temperature ideal. Simply magical.
I walked for about an hour before I arrived at a spot that I though adequate, I waited at least one more hour for the Sun to come up. Time was against me as I had to be back at the hotel at about 7h30 – 8h00 for breakfast and to prepare shooting the day’s activities. So as soon as the Sun showed itself over the mountainous horizon, I shouldered all of my stuff and started heading back while taking pictures on the way. Towards the end I was almost running in order not to be late. I got back just on time for the breakfast leftovers, out of breath and with my knees still shaking. Of course I would have liked to have more time for myself but I am nonetheless very happy with my first visit to The Great Wall of China.



Another good news, I finally got my 1 year working visa, valid until Oct 31st, 2008. That will allow me to legally work here and more importantly, it will allow me to be here during the Olympics. Apparently it may very well be difficult to come here next summer with a simple tourist visa if you don’t have Olympic Games tickets. They are not yet totally comfortable with the idea of letting in very many foreigners at a time so places are limited and reserved for the VIPs of this world. So if you plan to come, let me know... ;-)


I'll leave you know with some more pictures taken during my stay at The Wall.

When I first saw this big pile of coal in the middle of the alley, I was sure it was an accident, well apparently not. It was the usual coal delivery.

Local farmers.

AA traditional locking "fence" around our hotel. My room was just behind it.

A little running around with her jump rope. The Embodiment of pure happiness.