China - The Great Wall and our final impressions

On our last day in Beijing, we took a bus up to Badaling to see the Great Wall of China. It was raining and miserable again in Beijing, but as we drove north towards the wall the day began to brighten-up. As with virtually all Chinese tours, this involved being forced in a 70-minute excursion into a Jade "Museum". The museum turned out to be a large room with 400 stalls trying to force us to purchase some Jade, before eventually being herded into another room and fed dog. The Great Wall was amazing though, and a great end to our travels through China. The wall itself is truly breathtaking, both to look at and to walk-along. The Chinese had felt the need to enhance the experience by caging some bears in tiny enclosures at the bottom which took from the experience some what, but on the plus side the trip down involved sliding down on a large mechanical helter-skelter/tobaggan-run.



Most of the people we've met along the way have said that China was the toughest travelling experience they've had so far, so we're looking forward to an easier ride in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos. China is still a very much closed country, and the Chinese people are brainwashed by their media. The Chinese media's portrayal of the Tibet problems is disturbing to say the least. According to CCTV9 (the English language Chinese TV channel) the Tibetans would be stuck in a life of Serfdom if the Chinese hadn't "saved" them. The Chinese people as a whole are a very pushy nation, which I suppose is a by-product of the fact that there are a few too many of them (the one child policy should sort that out in about fifty years though). They are also the phlegmiest people in the world. You can't walk ten paces in China without somebody loudly clearing their throat and depositing it on the pavement. This isn't a hobby of just old men though. Many a time I've seen a pretty young Chinese girl stop in the middle of the street, and loudly hock up the contents of her nose and throat in front of me. Charming!



All in all though, we really did enjoy China. Their culture and history is amazing, and we met some great people along the way. If you stop and look lost for even a moment in China, then nine times out of ten somebody will come up to you and offer their help (albeit it in Mandarin).

We've now arrived in Bangkok, and already we feel that we're on a much more well-trodden backpacker router. Everybody speaks English, and organising trips/tours/travel are proving to be much easier already. We went to the Grand Palace and Wat Phra Kaew, before embarking on a river tour of the city. We've braved a couple of Tuk-Tuks as well, and thus far we've come away with our lives. We've one more day in Bangkok, before heading off to Phnom Penh in Cambodia on Friday.