An Easter Egg story: Humpty dumpty on a Great Wall

I'm now feeling well settled in Beijing. I have started my lessons, I have two one-on-one hours every afternoon, and I'm sure they'll really help. Its so upsetting to try so hard to speak a language only to have people stare blankly at you when your tones are slightly off, I'm just chuffed when I remember the right words!

But I've realised I have learned a bit in my studies in SA and I can bargain pretty well. Which incidently is a useful talent when everything is as (potentially) cheap as it is here in China. Designer clothes and accessories, some obviously fakes (but since when did I care), cost next to nothing... so put your Christmas present orders in here!

At my hostel I met 4 brothers from California and we ended up exploring quite a bit together. Besides some interesting meals around our hutong, from dubious dog meat to delicious Beijing duck, we also found ourselves at a Chinese heavy metal concert on Friday night, and spent yesterday cycling around the city. They left today for Tibet.

Jordan, Peter, Nathan and Drew on our tour of Beijing by bicycle yesterday.

Yum, yum, a scorpion....

A night of heavy metal, chinese-style...

Today I finally made it out to the Great Wall. I was planning on going yesterday but a severe concert-induced hangover put paid to that idea. The section I visited is a bit further out of Beijing than the areas that are usually touristed, I just felt like avoiding crowds on a weekend. My shuttle dropped me off at Jinshanling and from there I hiked the 12kms along the wall to Simatai. Its pretty hard going as the wall is built along the top of the ridges and thus rises and falls constantly. Again I'll leave it to the photos, but I must say the spectacle is worth a flight to China on its own...