Steepest Stairs of Your Life (Day 3581 - 9/14/19)

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This is their final day in China. They are going to see the Great Wall of China and pandas at the Beijing Zoo today. They took a bus to one of the many entrances of the Great Wall. Stephen says that he thinks that they are on the eastern side of the Great Wall. They have 2 paths to choose from to go onto the Great Wall. One is an easier walk while the other is steeper according to their tour guide. Stephen wanted to get some height so that he can get a better view. So, he decides to choose the steeper path and Rhonda joins him. Mallory and Mark decide to take the easier path on the other side.

The 1st part of their path had some steps that were 4 bricks high which made it difficult to climb the steps. But, Stephen says that he will be able to get a good view once they get to there. Afterwards, they only the 1st tower and Stephen says that he severely underestimated how hard this path would be. He then wonders how far Mal and Mark were able to get. Stephen talks about how it is currently noon, so the sun is also beating down on them. He says that in addition to climbing up the steepest stairs of your life, it is also extremely hot. Stephen is glad that there are these towers where they can get some shade which also has windows that the wind can blow in.

They continue on and all of the steps after the 1st part have been a lot easier. Then, they make it to the 2nd tower. Stephen says that their path definitely goes much higher than the other side. He doesn't know how many flights have stairs they have taken since one person's phone said it was 40 while another person's phone said it was about 60 flights. Stephen says that his legs feel like Jell-O though. Then, they get to the 3rd tower. He talks about how he thought that the Great Wall would have an initial climb and then the rest of the wall would be flat. But, there were non-stop stairs the entire way. His legs are feeling shaky and he is not looking forward to the trip back.

Later, they made it back to the entrance where they meet up with Mal and Mark. Mal says that they made it to the 2nd tower on their path and that their path was steeper than she expected. She says that they would stop and sit down because they couldn't make it to the next tower. Mal says that her legs are shaky and that there were times where she felt really dizzy. She explains that Mark and her sat on the stairs for a while before coming back to the entrance. Then, Stephen talks about how he is glad that he made the trek, but now he just wants to get something to eat. They all had lunch and then went to go see the site of the 2008 Olympic Games. Mal says that the 2022 Olympics is also going to be there, so there is a lot of construction going on. They were shown the Beijing National Stadium (or Bird's Nest) which is the opening ceremony stadium for the Olympics.

Next, they head to the Beijing Zoo to see some giant pandas. Stephen says that seeing the pandas being active is big deal because they sleep for 20 hours a day, so they are really lazy. He talks about how there have been conservation efforts to help them survive and their numbers have been increasing. Stephen says that the pandas are lazy and helpless animals as they aren't willing to hunt for food or breed. Their tour guide said that there is special panda pornography that the pandas have to be exposed to in order to get them in the mood to breed. Afterwards, they had a quick dinner and returned to the hotel.

Stephen says that it was really difficult getting back to hotel because of the practice runs for the military parade for the 70th anniversary of China's new government on October 1st. The practice ended up closing down large sections of Beijing and their driver wasn't able to take them back to the hotel. The driver took them as close as he could and then they had to walk 2 km back to the hotel. Along the way, they saw a large police and military presence for the parade practice. At one point, they reached a part where the road was closed, but they had to keep going straight in order to get back to the hotel. Their tour guide went to go negotiate with one of the cops which lead to them yelling at each other.

Afterwards, their tour guide tried talking to a different cop who also refused to let them pass. One of the cops also ends up yelling at their group in Chinese because he wanted them off the sidewalk. Their tour guide was telling the cops that if these foreigners can't get back, then they will be lost. After a long back and forth, the cop finally let them go through. Stephen felt bad for their tour guide named Joe since he doesn't have any experience dealing with this situation since this parade only happens once a decade. They went through a back alley and then through the back door of the hotel. Stephen didn't film anything because he read online that you shouldn't film the police.

Then, he talks about how he, Mal, Mark, Rhonda, and another couple from Milwaukee have to leave the hotel by 4:00 AM tomorrow. Joe told them that due to the military and police presence, he doesn't know how close the driver can get to the hotel in order to drive them to the airport. So, he doesn't know how far they will have to walk in order to meet up with the bus driver. There are also a bunch of other groups who have to go, so Joe can't come with them. So, they will be getting on a van tomorrow morning where the driver will take them to a hotel that's close to the airport. At that hotel, they will meet up with Joe's colleague Frank who is staying at the hotel and will help them at the airport. This is because their driver doesn't speak English, so they need Frank to help them. Stephen hopes that everything goes smoothly tomorrow and that they get on their flight on time. He says that they will be transferring flights at Shanghai and then there will be a long flight from Shanghai back to Chicago. They will be going back over the international dateline, so this long flight will all be one day.