Great Wall

We climbed the Great Wall today!
Grace hired a car for the day. Came with a lady driver. Kristine climbed a section of the Great Wall named 'Wild Great Wall'(wild as in 'original', 'left to survive the elements for hundreds of years') with grace and I in 2005, but she didnt get to the top that trip as it was too steep and dangerous. This time, both Kristine and Kimberley spent almost 2 hrs soaking the sun, running on snow on the Great Wall, peppering Grace and I with snowballs. There was a row of modern toilets up at the Wall, but there were all locked! Kristine and I had to improvise and chose a hideout away from view. We melted some snow on the slope but it was environmentally friendly. I told Grace later while this section of the Wall was not 'wild', the toilets were! On way back we visited an ancient temple nearby, dating back to 300AD. The highlight there was a ride on 'Alphine coaster'. Each car can seat an adult and a child, is pulled up the hill by cable individually. At the top, 6-7 cars were linked in a row and guided down the hill by a trained driver. It was wild. I forgot to put on my gloves on the way down. My hands took a long time to warm up again.

For a whole day's work, the lady driver received Y450, before tolls (Y50). Petrol should have cost around Y100-150, throw in another Y50 for tyres and maintenance. She pockets Y200. She is one of those Chinese parents who worked so hard to provide for her son, but somehow could not induce her son to aspire towards respectable goals in life. 20 yrs old, could not qualify for local Uni, does not wish to find a job. Just drifts. A worry for any parent.