i finally made it out to the great wall last weekend and i think it was definitely the best part of my trip so far; our foriegn student administrator agreed to let the foreigners (me and two medical students who are only here for a month) use the university van and driver for a trip to the great wall but he wanted us to go the really toursity spot complete with a theater where you watch a movie about the great wall; we basically said no (acting a bit like spoiled western brats) and forced him to change his plan to what we wanted, which was to drive to a remote part of the wall, hike for 10 km along the wall, and then get picked up by the driver at the other site; he agreed, basing his original opposition on fear for our safety (though it didn't stop him from sending me out on my own to the downtown hospital on my second day here); we also were able to negotiate for my new zealand and chinese friends to be able to come along; the plan was great, the hike was pretty tough as it was not only 10 km, but 10 km up and down and up and down some pretty steep mountains; everything was fine until i decided to 'challenge' myself to run the whole way up the last mountain; the best part was that we probably only passed about 10 other people on the way who were doing the same thing in the opposite direction and that the wall was completely unrestored so it didn't seem fake like alot of the other stuff here; i took quite a few pictures,...ok, 114 to be exact...and i think this one gives you an idea of the size of everything; the wall was about 15-20 feet high in most spots with towers pretty often as you can see; even being there and looking at only the parts i could see in both directions i was struck with how long and how much manpower was required to build it, and how much fun it must have been to be one of the dudes that got to haul giant rocks up the mountain everyday