Badaling, Badaling: The Great Wall of China
A trip to China often includes a visit to The Great Wall of China, to some part of the 5500 to 13,000 mile collection of fortifications (depending on whether various branches are included). So, I set out for the Great Wall with my guide Nina during my trip to the Beijing Botanic Gardens for their Crabapple Conference. Nina gassed up a Hyundai and we headed 50 miles northwest and over a half mile in elevation to Badaling (八达岭), the most visited section of the Wall and the first opened to tourists in 1957. From Nixon to Obama, to Nina and me.
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