As we boarded the tour bus we were informed that we were the first of 12 passengers...we knew that meant a long morning being stuck in Beijing's notorious traffic. One and a half hours later we finally(!) picked up the last passenger and started heading out of the city to the Great Wall.
When we arrived at the Mutianyu wall base station, we had to walk up a hill lined with souvenir stalls. Unfortunately there was nothing worth buying as everything was sun bleached and cheap. Our tour guide warned us that if someone is welling to sell you something ridiculously cheap it is probably for a reason. He mentioned that you will find lots of Beijing books being sold by street vendors, but most will be a cheap paperback and made with recycled paper. The vendors were less than friendly too. They would stand in front of you and literally grab your arm for you to stop and have a look at their goods. You know why when you see the next stall as they all have the EXACTLY the same stuff. After finally arriving at the top of the hill, we took a cable car to the wall as it was built on top of the mountain "back." Once we reached the top we were greeted with temperatures that were 5 degrees cooler, a nice cool breeze and blue skies.. a beautiful day! We walked along the wall from turret to turret. From faraway, the turrets looked small, but they were actually much bigger than they seemed and a great place to get some shade and the bricks kept them cooler than the outside than the outside temperature.
On our way back to the city we stopped at Dr.Tea, a famous tea house that has served many famous people from Queen Elizabeth to President Putin of Russia. Our tour included a tea sampling of 4 different types, most notable was the 17 year old puer tea that comes in compressed bricks. The "tea expert" even told us how to drink the tea as some you slurp and others you "chew." After sampling all 4, we decided on purchasing a brick of the old puer tea.
On our way back to the city we stopped at Dr.Tea, a famous tea house that has served many famous people from Queen Elizabeth to President Putin of Russia. Our tour included a tea sampling of 4 different types, most notable was the 17 year old puer tea that comes in compressed bricks. The "tea expert" even told us how to drink the tea as some you slurp and others you "chew." After sampling all 4, we decided on purchasing a brick of the old puer tea. 
After the tea stop we made a quick detour to an overpass that has a nice view of the Birds Nest stadium that was built for the Beijing Olympics
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