Sadly, the Great Wall was a wash-out. Or, more appropriately I suppose, a white-out! All the bad weather that's been plaguing us these last few days really crashed home today - the clouds descended upon Beijing so badly that by the time we arrived at the Great Wall, we could barely see 10 feet in front of us, let alone watch it trail off into the distance...... Having chosen the section at Badaling because this is apparently "the" place to see the Great Wall rolling off over the hills, we were a little disappointed! The day started badly when, having been told to be ready at 8.15, we were called to go at 7.20. We rushed downstairs, only to be told we had to wait for other people, so we could go off and have some breakfast after all. After having something to eat, we sat waiting in the hostel foyer for all these others to turn up, only to find there were no others! Our guide came and got us, and the mini bus we had been expecting turned out to be just a car, containing me, Sarah, Victor the guide and Mr Chan the driver - lovely! A personal tour was not exactly what we had planned - having got up early to be ready on time, I think we were both planning a little shut-eye as soon as we got in the bus! But this was not to be...... Having said that, Victor turned out to be very sweet, and even managed to teach us a few words of Chinese. He spoke good English, we learnt a lot today, but at the same time he didn't understand us too well when we spoke back to him, so some of our questions went unanswered! Victor told us our first stop would be the Ming Tombs, but what he actually meant was a Jade Factory, where we would be forced to spend at least half an hour in order for him to get his commission. This was to be something of a theme for the day, so we weren't too impressed! After we finally persuaded them that we weren't going to buy anything and that we could leave, we did indeed head off to the Ming Tombs. We went to the ChangLing tomb, and Victor gave us quite the guided tour, informative and not too long! Apparently the emperor's coffins had to be closed from the inside - obviously the dead chaps weren't going to be able to do this themselves so the obvious answer was to chuck in a few live slaves, let them shut the door and then suffocate - delightful! Next stop was a Cloisonne Factory - Chinese enamelling. Very pretty, but once again we weren't going to buy anything. However this was also the place for lunch - a part of the day both of us had been dreading as who could tell what our "free" lunch would include! Turns out this was one part of the day we needn't have worried about, we were served an absolute feast and it was delicious! Things were looking up..... But then we went to the Wall. We must have been going uphill, because the nearer we got to the Wall, the thicker the clouds got - we were in such a fug by the time we arrived at the Wall that we couldn't even see it. Despite the clouds (and accompanying rain), Sarah and I gamely started climbing the Wall, as all good visitors to Beijing must do. After around half an hour of solid climbing we decided to give up and go back - we slogged away but all we got in return was exhaustion, wobbly legs and wet. The visibility got worse the higher we got, by the time we stopped we couldn't even see where the next stage would lead! In the end we decided it just wasn't worth it, and that we should head back down - seemed better to quit while we were not quite ahead! We had chosen Badaling because of the views - it is one of the most visited parts of the Wall and as such has been the most heavily restored. As a result, the Wall looks shiny new and not really like it could be over 2000 years old - we could have been walking on the Disney version of the Wall for all we knew! So, somewhat dejected, we headed back to Victor and the car. That was it, we'd like to go home please. Ok, so off we went. Hang on - did I say home? What I really meant was a Tea House. I don't even LIKE tea!! This was one of the worst stops - despite some of the tea being almost bearable and the whole ceremony very interesting, the hard sell at the end was intense - we felt bad about not buying anything but it was very expensive - and I don't even LIKE tea! So ok, now we really wanted to go back. But no - Victor and Mr Chan had yet another stop up their sleeves! This time, it was a silk factory, and unfortunately for the poor chap that had to show us around, Sarah and I had given up on all pretence of politeness and were stomping around like a pair of stroppy teenagers. I did manage to crack a smile at the end though, when the same little man said to us "I even remembered your names - Sarah and Carobleh"! Yes, thats right, my name is Carobleh. I'm so proud of it. I got a bit of a fit of the giggles then and couldn't really get a hold of myself (hysteria had finally set in) - thankfully that was our last stop and home really was our next destination so I didn't have to inflict myself on anyone else! So, that was our day. Not quite what we had in mind, I don't really feel like I've even been to the Great Wall of China, but I did at least manage to finish the day with a smile on my face, even if it was a hysterical one! Tomorrow is the last day of the whole trip, so if the weather stays like this then I think we'll probably give the Summer Palace a miss and hit the shops instead.....