I was told that this phrase (DING DING HOW) means “the best” / “number one”. I hope I was told correctly, because we had the best day of our holiday in China so far.
The weather was absolutely perfect for our visit to the Great Wall of China. We both needed to strip off several layers while we were there.
We were collected very early and joined up with others in a small coach, about 14 in total, and headed off with our tour guide Lisa. We travelled fairly swiftly considering the Beijing traffic. It took just over 90 minutes to travel the 70Km to get to the section known as Mutianyu. This section acted as the northern barrier for the capital.
We bought tickets for the cablecar so we could get to the wall more quickly. There would have been no way we could have walked as far as we did if we didn’t opt for this shortcut. The tickets cost 100RMB ( just over $20AUS) each. Well worth it!
Once at the top of the cablecar we spotted a vendor selling coffee and we thought we’d treat ourselves. Mick had ordered two before we noticed the price. The most expensive coffee we have ever bought, even more expensive than a coffee in Paris a few years ago. The coffees cost 55RMB each.
We had three hours of free time to walk the wall and enjoy the scenery and experience. It was wonderful.
One thing we commented on was this was the first place we had been in China where the Chinese tourists wee outnumbered. In actually fact, there were very few Chinese people here and the bulk of the tourists were European, some American and some Japanese. Not too many Australians either.
By the way, I learnt on the boat that Australia is spelt as follows in China:
Ao da li ya ( OUR DA LEE YA).
Some sections were incredibly steep and you needed to walk with a very big slant.
I climbed a particularly steep section while Mick waited for me. Half way up I panicked a bit because I thought I have to get back. I pushed on and enjoyed the view. I needed to crawl in a backwards fashion down those very steep steps.
We had lunch at a restaurant called Mr Yang’s with many other tourists. This restaurant makes a killing. Visiting the toilet here was interesting as the doors to the cubicles were broken and removed.
We left the Great Wall at 2.30pm and it took ages to get back to our hotel because of the Beijing traffic.
We were delivered about 3 hours later, but there were still lots of tourists on the bus. I don’t think they would have got home until around 7 pm.
Jane and Mick's Holiday Adventures 
Hi Jane and Mick, Thanks for the wonderful blog, I am enjoying your adventures very much, you always were a good writer, nothing has changed. I think you are both very brave to go to China and do a lot of it alone. Love the pictures and the wall is amazing, loved the history of the statues, love them did not know there were quite so many. Keep safe and having a good time Cheer to you both Bel x
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So glad you have enjoyed the blog Bel. We had a great time but are very happy to be home.
Thanks for you lovely comments.
Hope to catch up some time this year.
Jane xx