At the Great Wall

I visited the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, super-scenic and very mountainous. The crowds at the entrance fell away as I climbed uphill. After passing a few overly restored guard towers, I came to a big warning sign: further entry prohibited.

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I visited the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, super-scenic and very mountainous. The crowds at the entrance fell away as I climbed uphill. After passing a few overly restored guard towers, I came to a big warning sign: further entry prohibited. Taking my cue from a cab driver the previous night - who had navigated through a traffic jam by inventing a third lane down the middle of a two-lane street and accelerating - I disregarded the sign and kept climbing. The path became more dilapidated, the towers more ruinous. The noise of "Just a Gigolo" fell away. Silence. Solitude. Two very rare things in this crowded country.

I paused to rest. Suddenly walking down the path toward me was a huffing and puffing Chinese woman, toting a heavy backpack. She dropped it with a crash at my feet. In fractured English she asked: "Water? Beer? Coke?" She pulled an example of each out of the pack. Near the entrance, established vendors hold customary rights. This woman had no such right - so she had hiked up the mountain, slipped through a broken guard tower entrance miles from the frequented area and was looking for customers where they were fewer - but where she might go undetected. An amazing way to earn a tourist dollar.

I signaled for water. She asked 30 yuan, about $4.30, about the cost of a main course in an ordinary restaurant, an astonishing price here for a bottled drink. Ruy caught up with me, and we ordered two.