Gotta love when they write your destination in English on the side of the bus. 
Just starting the hike. Seven miles, and none of it was flat! We went from Jinshanling to Simitai.
The Great Wall does not disappoint. I had a conception that the Chinese had renovated a few key pieces of the Wall, and that the rest was crumbling pile of rocks. Not so, even the unrenovated sections, last touched in the 1600's are in solid condition. The wall just goes on and on, far past where the horizon is lost in smog. Just a one mile section is an amazing feat of construction, and yet it goes on for nearly 3000 miles!
At every couple of towers we stopped and took in the view. Ladies from Inner Mongolia laden down with water, beer, postcards, and t-shirts shadowed us for the first three miles. We all bought from them. A dollar for an ice-cold water is a heckuva deal when you are three miles away from civilization on the Great Wall. These ladies hike all day for the 70 cent profit margin.One pointed out that the wall was built to keep her (Inner Mongolians) out of Han China. And now they are making a living on the wall. Progress.
Only two miles to go.
At the end of the hike we had the option for $7 to take a zip-line across a lake, then ride a boat to our end point. A couple Tsingtaos gave me the courage to Zip Line for the first time. It actually wasn't scary at all.
A fall would have been quite fatal though. 
Our bus ride back to Beijing was lengthened due to this poor guy. The water tank is wedged tight. The driver in the striped shirt is making a really embarrassing cell phone call for help.
