1, 2, 3, Chairman Mao!!

So, Beijing was large. And by large, I mean freaking enormous.

Of course I did all the requisite sightseeing – Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, Wangfujing, Sanlitun… It was pretty cool, but also quite exhausting. The entire city was FLOODED with tourists and everywhere you go, you have to fight your way through 83,847,784,949 people.

 

I woke up early to see Tiananmen Square and was astounded by the sheer number of people there. The line to see Mao’s mausoleum was truly more than one mile long. No exaggeration. 

Maybe it’s just one of those things that I’ll never understand because I’m not Chinese, but there is nothing on Earth that I want to see that badly. The only thing that I’d get in a line that long for would be if they were handing out money at the end. At least $1,000. And I still might hesitate at that price. It was really hot outside. $5,000, sure…

But my favorite part of Beijing was the trip to the Great Wall. It was absolutely beautiful. I visited a lesser-known segment called Mutianyu, which is famous for its guard towers. It also has really steep stairs. You know when people say, “I climbed the Great Wall!” but the really mean that they walked up and down a few rebuilt stairs with a handrail at Badaling… Yeah, I climbed the Great Wall. Well, kind of. I took a cable car up to the wall and then did some climbing. There were segments where you had to use your hands to climb… It was an excellent workout. The view wasn’t bad either.

On the way down, there was the option to take the toboggan – basically a plastic seat with four wheels and a hand break that you ride down a narrow metal slide. This was, of course, up to the usual Chinese safety standards, aka, completely dangerous, but promising to be really fun. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, if you’re my mother) I got stuck behind an older woman who was terrified of the toboggan and insisted on driving slowly and responsibly. Thus, my adrenaline rush was cut short, but I made it to the bottom in one piece.

 

To sum up Beijing, it’s one of those places that you HAVE to visit when you’re in China… but not necessarily somewhere that you want to visit often.