China – Trip of a Lifetime

So, for starters how in the world do you get there? Good question, I’m glad you asked. I won’t bore you with a bunch of facts about this country, but let’s just say it’s big, really big. Population… big, really big. So much to see (and did I mention all the people speak Chinese… yes, that’s right no English here, but we have ways), so what was I saying? So much to see, so big, you might want some help getting there, and once you’re there getting around. How did we do it?

China Highlights. Now I have to be honest, I love these guys. They took very good care of us and were available when we needed them… they were great!

Just search for www.chinahighlights/china-tours. You can also contact Ann (she was our contact at China Highlights at ann@chinahighlights.com. WhatsApp +8619178340224. Now to be fair, they are not the only one’s who do these “private” tours, but this worked for us. Pick up and delivery (to the hotel) at every stop, our own guides (they were all good but I definitely had a favorite). CH made it fairly easy to get around. Nuff said – let’s start at the “Wall”. Just a quick word of advice, look at all the reels on Instagram and other social media sites… This isn’t a trip to Florida, or Canada or anything else. You need help with this one… just my humble opinion.

This was our second visit to the wall, two days apart. I like this one, it shows us relatively uncrowded (just wait, everything changes). The thing about the wall, besides its size (it can be seen from space) is the fact that it was built so long ago. The amount of labor is mind blowing. So let me be clear, the wall is the wall. You may see our clothes change, but it doesn’t matter, same wall different location (Kilometers apart).

So here’s the thing… crowds, everywhere, crowds and more crowds. This will be a current theme and there’s no blame, it’s just what it is. People, everywhere. Beijing has a population over 34 million, go figure. This is what we walked into on our first trip to the wall.

And here’s the fun part… check this out, everyone has fun the same way. These were kids and they were having a great day. I’ll talk about phones eventually, i.e. EVERYONE has one. But this was so cool, everyone enjoying the day, regardless.

So this is what I did. I found one of those watch towers… went in and saw that there was a door on the other side. NO PEOPLE????? What happened. Some folks were taking pictures but I walked by and down onto a section with NOBODY. What luck. Actually, I was out of bounds. A man in a red vest came down to ask me to return, but not before I got pics with no people.

There’s only so much you can do with the Great Wall of China… so the last pics are of the wall lit up. People head up there to watch the sunset and take pictures of the wall with the lights on. Pretty spectacular.

Watertown Gubei is basically a tourist attraction under the wall. There are hotels, shows and the ever present buying stuff street. We wandered through after descending the mountain and watched some very impressive shows.

First night done… I would definitely spend some time here. The hotels are beautiful, restaurants wonderful. All in all a great place to spend some time.