Day 1 to: Yanquing, 90km, 90km to date, 524m up, end elev 506m 

We rode as a convoy out of Beijing for the first 7k, then on our own.  Although not long, a fairly hard climbing day.  Seeing the Great Wall was the highlight.  This is a major restored section of the wall, in other areas the wall is reduced to small mud piles, the outer rocks have all been reused for other building. This is the major tourist site for seeing the wall coming from Beijing, large crowds of people.  Interesting in that where I was today is the very same place where Maureen and I ended our 18k walk along the wall some 12 years ago.

Some pics from the day:

great wall

Why are these moats around the trees?

Beijing hosted the summer Olympics in 2008 and will be doing the Winter Olympics in 2022 (I think).