This morning I woke up at 3am because I wanted to be one of the first to check in for my flight to Beijing in case I ran into any problems. Since I still had my e-ticket that was dated for the previous day, I was worried I would run into problems. I was taking the managers Joanne's word that I would be able to get on the plane. I did not have anything like a ticket or something to prove it. I kept waking up all night long worried about not getting on the plane in the morning.
Thankfully, all of my worrying was for nothing. The Air China staff greeted me by name when I arrived and had me check in at business class. I was checked in quickly with no issues. It was such a relief. I guess they don't forget the foreigner who cries at the check-in counter. The staff was great and I couldn't thank them enough.
I slept all the whole plane ride to Beijing. I was catching up on the many lost hours the last few nights and now I could finally relax.
Once arriving in China I had trouble getting through the 72 hour free visa immigration line. The lady working the desk barely spoke English. I showed her my flight out of Beijing and she had me stand to the side and wait for at least 45 min. I did not understand why I couldn't go through an she was unable to communicate to me. I saw her let foreigner after foreigner go through and I could not understand why I wasn't allowed. Finally a lady came who seemed to be the boss. She spoke better English. She wrote down some info about my flight and passport and then sent me through. I still don't know what the big delay was for but I was just happy to have finally granted access into China.
I met my tour guide at the exit of the airport. Her name is Gloria and she speaks English well. We headed straight to the Great Wall of China to make up for lost time.
The Great Wall is gorgeous. We took a gondola up the mountain. I hiked the Mutianyu Great Wall from the 6th tower to the 14th. We took our time and took lots of pictures. I could have just walked around all day taking in the beauty. The weather is so comfortable here compared to SE Asia. For the first time in months I feel I need to put on lip chap. I can also wear my air down without it sticking to my back.
To get down from the was we took the toboggan. It is basically like a metal bobsledding track and we took little go carts down. It was a so much fun! There was a stick that you push or pull to control speed.
Once we reached the bottom, the driver took us to the summer palace. This was a summer resort for the Imperial Family members. It was pretty and it had a nice lake.
One the way to the hotel, we stopped to see the water cube and the birds nest. These are beautiful buildings that were built for the Olympics.
Once I got to the hotel I was exhausted. I checked my wifi and then just went to sleep. I slept amazing.