About the Badaling section of the Wall;
I've wanted to see the Great Wall for many years. Having just visited I'm very dissapointed - not by the staggering significance of the Wall but by the neglect and lack of care given it. The sentry point towers all stink of ***, and the general neglect leads to a general contempt from the masses - I frequently saw locals spitting and climbing over parts next to sign-posts (in mandarin) to respect the site.
It is a global heritage site and wonder of the world. I wonder how ashamed the Chinese will be when the rest of the world gets exposed to how they're abusing it when they all descend upon it in 2008.
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At Least Do This: I had a day in Beijing and wanted to see both the Great Wall and the Forbidden city. No tours really fit the bill. It turns out the reason is that they pad the tours with side trips where they try to get you buy crap.
I took the option set-up by the hotel concierge - 500 yuan for the day with a taxi, pay only on return and the hotel takes the details of the cab, giving you some sense of security.
Oddly enough the driver ran his meter, which at the end of the day came to 510 yuan!
From a western perspective this is a bargin - no hassle, no surprise sidetrips.
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on Aug 25, 2006
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