Our photography tour ended in Shanghai but we spent time in Beijing. From Shanghai we took a bullet train to Beijing and stayed near the center of the city. We got to see the Forbidden City, the Beijing Zoo and parts of the Great Wall.
I could have spent days at the Forbidden City. Supposedly, it has buildings whose rooms total 9,999. Even during the off-season (January), it was very crowded.
After the Forbidden City, we stopped at the Beijing Zoo to say hello to the pandas and the Bengal tigers. Although the animals were not mistreated, I was not entirely convinced they were happy in their surroundings.
By contrast to the Forbidden City, we went to a sparsely visited section of the Great Wall. Most of the pictures you see of the Great Wall are probably taken around Badaling. This section has been completely restored and is only a short hike (5 minutes) from taxi to wall. We went to Simitai which is much less traveled and also not restored. We had an hour hike to get to the wall but we were the only ones there.
Curmudgeon at Large 
I knew about the Great Wall of China for many years but never realized how long it was. I always thought it was “great” because of how high it was.
I have heard of the Great Wall for many years. but never realized how long it was. Wow!
Wow, you covered a lot of ground! I’m enjoying the trip via your photos – I wouldn’t want to do it in person.
It was exhausting but worth it. However, I will tell you that I wouldn’t want to do it again.
Brings back good memories of my trip. Did you know the raised rims around all those Forbidden City arches were to keep out ghosts? I remember the birdsong on the Great Wall as I dozed in the sunshine with nobody around.
I did not know about the raised rims and ghosts, It must have worked; there were none on the day we visited.
You motivated me to read up on the Great Wall. It’s quite a monument to history and humankind’s bellicose nature. it required a standing army to be effective, but then there was no shortage of manpower. Nice photos!
Thank you for the compliment on the photos. The wall covered some very rugged and steep terrain and, as you see in one of the photos, fell into severe disrepair when not maintained.
Definitely a trip of a lifetime!
Yes, too exhausting to do on a regular basis.