The crowds were coming.

The Group on the Wall

I still have so many pictures to share... we were the absolute 1st people on the Great Wall that day. We made it to the section called Badaling, one of the more touristy sections but because of our early arrival, it wasn't too bad, not too mention the only area open at that time. We were lucky to have Sylvia there with us. Sylvia was with the Bafangzy Group that was helping us with everything- accommodations, transportation, tickets to the events, tours for families. Sylvia was obviously her "English" name and she was so sweet. The sweetest little voice and such a nice lady. She is 25 years old and originally from Shanghai. She had spent 5 years in Moscow studying and learning Russian. Sylvia has also traveled to the states, Australia, Japan and speaks all those languages. Pretty amazing. She would like to come back to the states to study nutrition at Cornell. 

So the visibility that day was not the best but probably pretty average. We were spoiled our first two days on China with absolutely clear, blue, sunny skies. That was not the usual. Regardless, the wall is pretty amazing and something you need to experience in person.