Davidsons take on the Great Wall ...

Wow! After nearly a year of talking about 'doing' the Great Wall together, Rob and I finally make it. It was an exhilirating experience to walk on the Great Wall and to be able to experience it with Rob made it even more amazing. The section we walked was 3 km long - doesn't sound like much but it was so steep and crooked in some parts, it felt like much more.

Playing Chinese tourists on the Great Wall - it is obligatory to pose like this in all photos for Chinese tourists!

At the end of the tourist part of the wall, we decided that we were brave enough (or stupid enough?) to venture past the 'Do not go past this point' sign along the ruins of the wall. This was simply amazing, we were on the wall by ourselves and were able to see the older parts of the wall.

Bush bashing on the Great Wall!

While we were in Beijing, we were lucky enough to have Gunnar's cousin as a personal guide for our travels. She has been living in Beijing for 7 years and knew all the great places to go to eat, drink and shop! We went to some amazing restaurants where we gorged ourselves on authentic Peking duck and lots of good red wines - several big sessions at the gym are a must this week! It was so to go to some lovely bars, there is nothing that civilised in Wuxi!

It just seemed to go forever - such steep and crooked steps too. The Autumn colours were so beautiful.

While we were in Beijing, we also spent time exploring the Forbidden City along with thousands of other tourists. It was a fascinating place, the most beautiful buildings with such vivid colours. Wandering around, it was easy to imagine the emperors from the Ming and Qing dynasty days going about their daily life in the courtyards and halls. We were extremely lucky with the weather whilst in Beijing - crisp, cold days (a little bit of a shock to the system after the humid summer), blue skies and shock, horror, NO smog! It felt so good to be walking around in the fresh air.

Rob and I make it to the Great Wall at last!

On our last day in Beijing, we had brunch at a German bakery where we enjoyed lots of yummy breads (including a rye and potato bread that I can actually eat!) followed by a lazy morning of shopping. We went to a great 'antique' market where there were gorgeous paintings and Chinese paper cuttings. It was so ridiculously cheap as well - I bought 8 original modern Chinese pieces for about $40! Our guide also took us to a huge department store that only sells glasses - I had great fun trying on and purchasing some new pairs. Once again, extremely cheap (about $80 a pair for the frame and lenses!).

Exploring the 'forbidden' part of the Great Wall - Rob was clearly a little more confident than me!

On Sunday afternoon, it was time to say goodbye to Rob (who will be staying in Beijing for a few more days, lucky boy!) and hello to smoggy Wuxi again! We very nearly didn't make the plane though, we got carried away shopping in the airport - Gunnar found shoes that actually fit him and I found English novels (I think I'll be hibernating for the next few days devouring them!). I'm ready to plan the next adventure with Rob now - we are thinking of the '3 Gorges', looking forward to sharing more news of our Chinese experiences!