Mainland China was not on our list of places to go on our Asia itinerary. We did not want to go through the visa process. Then we found out about the transit visa. You can get up to 144 hours in certain regions of China without going through the normal visa process. You have to fly into China from an approved country and then fly out of China another approved country. It is an easy process. We flew from Hong Kong (it counts as a different country even though it is a Special Administrative Region of China) and then we booked a flight from China to Thailand.
We chose Beijing as our destination in China because we wanted to go to the Great Wall and access from Beijing is easy. We booked a tour of the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. It was an all-day tour that included a stop at the Summer Palace and dropped us off at the Olympic Park. We found that it is best to book tours in China especially if you have limited time. Navigating the language barrier, transportation, and the bureaucracy of getting tickets is challenging.
It took 1.5 hours to get to the wall from Beijing. Once there we were able to explore two sections of the wall. We accessed the first section via a chairlift. Standing on top of the wall is surreal. The view of the surrounding mountains is beautiful. It is hard to imagine any army even crossing the mountains that buttress the wall. A fun part of the day was taking an alpine sled down the mountain. The attendant did not want to let me on the ride at first because he thought I was over 70 (thanks white hair). We straightened that out and had a blast riding down the slope. We took a gondola up to the second part of the wall and spent an hour and a half walking along the wall.
After the Great Wall, our tour went to the Summer Palace [insert about palace]. It was insanely crowded. It was so crowded that it was hard to enjoy the tour.
The bus dropped us near the Olympic Village, but not quite there. We were having trouble figuring out how to walk over the highway to the village when a tuk-tuk driver stopped and offered to take us there. We piled into his tiny vehicle and he got us there.
We clocked over 25,000 steps that day.
We also ate yummy food and explored the city via subway and on foot. There are security checks throughout the city. You have to keep your passport on you at all times. Beijing is large. It takes a while to get anywhere. Our hotel is very comfortable. It is built on the site of the former residence of Edward Snow. An American journalist who spent years in China in the early 1900s. It is a museum for the journalist and his wife. It has laundry, a gym, and a decent restaurant.
Temps dipped to freezing while we were there. Our Southeast Asia wardrobe was not suited for the weather, but we managed. We also had our first major travel blunder. We didn’t realize we booked a 2 a.m. flight from Beijing to Bangkok and missed our flight. Luckily we were able to book a new flight the next day. We as Americans need to watch out for that military time.
We are glad we made the quick trip to China. Visiting the Great Wall was worth it!
