The city wall is wonderful - it costs 40Y to climb to any one of the four entry towers and from any of these it is possible to hire a bike or walk around the complete circuit of the wall. The first day I walked ¼ of the wall to get a feel for it, then on the second day having met ‘Harry’ in the café at the hostel last night and now on the wall decide to hire cycles and go for a spin - Harry wants to go quickly round but his fitness soon lets him down and I am the one setting the pace!! The wall grants fantastic views on not only the old city with its redeveloped flats with solar powered heating but also the development underway outside the city walls. Development here is going ahead at a blistering pace, but it is clear that China is trying to make every effort to use sustainable methods of energy to support this improvement and it should, I hope, lead to an improved way of life for the people…
It is Chinese new year on the 4th Feb onwards so the wall is being bedecked in silk finery - Huge swathes of the wall are already under many amazing decorations and dioramas while workers continue to weld frames, stitch silk and place more decorations ready for “The Year of the Rabbit” :)
Riding along the wall through these decorations was a brilliant experience and I can only imagine the wonder on the night when the whole wall is lit up and the party really starts. Wonderful.