Finally, after a week in crazy Beijing, we got out of the city to visit a remote part of the GREAT WALL and to meet some authentic Chinese people. Our driver honked the horn for the entire 180-minute trip to the wall and back. On no occasion did he ever have a reason to beep. I wish I had video of that car ride… Oh wait I do. It can be found on this post here – A Leisurely Drive From Beijing To Great Wall.
Michèle and I were 2 of only 8 tourists wandering around on this portion of the great wall. We were the only non-chinese, so it must have been the authentic place to go. It’s like when you walk into an Indian restaurant and all the folks eating are Indian and you’re like, SCORE!
Aside from the ticket girl, The only other “employees” we saw at the wall were some industrious Chinese business men posing as ancient Chinese Wall Guards. To be completely honest, IS THIS NOT THE BEST JOB IN THE WORLD! Everyday you get paid to dress up like a warrior and take pictures with people from all over the world.
I’m not sure why, but rather than pay these guys to have our photos taken with them, I thought I could sneak one in with the video camera. Probably would have made more sense to tell Michèle, since clearly she had no idea what I was doing.
Michèle, move your big head!
I think I pissed him off so I decided to spring for the photos, which I learned were like a nickel, causing me further embarrassment. He took a few pictures with us and then went back to pretend to guard the wall. Actually, after we took our photos, he kind of just laid down next to his cannon.
Michèle looks a bit nervous. “He’s not a real guard Michèle!”
Michèle and I walked along for a couple of miles, admiring the spectacular views along the way, until I realized that the only way back down is from where we started. So we turned our “ghost man” asses around and headed back.
I WONDER: if you can really see the Great Wall from the moon or if this is Chinese propaganda. Like did we actually ask Buzz Aldrin or Neil Armstrong? Because it doesn’t count if you can see it from a satellite. With Google Earth I can more or less see the rake that I left in the back yard so…
International Travel Humor 