The Great Wall of China

OK, I either made this one too easy or someone did some sleuthing on the web for Amazing Race 6 locations...well the location is the Great Wall of China and I did originally think that this was the place the racers went on the show so that is why I took the other photo. Obviously I was sorely mistaken.

This was and is truly one of the wonders of the world. I can honestly say that I feel bad for the Chinese…can you imagine how many people it would have taken to build this 4,000 mile wall? It has been estimated that somewhere in the range of 2 to 3 million Chinese died as part of the centuries-long project of building the wall. No kidding!! They probably died from stair stepping all day!! I bet invaders took one look at the wall and said to themselves, "Don’t worry, if we wait long enough they will kill themselves off and then we can just walk in!”

As you can see from the picture, I did not need to wear my coat although it was a rather cold day in February. There were quite a few people that were making the climb, but after we reached the first lookout tower, many people turned back. I was going to be one of those people, but once I caught my breath (by exploring the tower) I figured I could do one more…and then one more after that. Near the top of our climb (this is relative because I think we reached many tops), it got very windy and it made it hard to keep going...that and I am a wimp. There I said it.

I did see some very funny signs in China and at the Great Wall, such as this one posted about cellphones ... I wonder which cell phone does this and how does it know that it is in a thunderstorm?

Now, you would think that the climbing down would be much easier. Well let me tell you that is a falsehood! I was weaving back and forth and my legs were shaking so badly on the way down you would have thought that I was punch drunk. I had to start jumping the stairs two or three at a time just to get myself down. But not to worry, ice cream and a hat was the perfect cure!