Back to Beijing once again!

I am thoroughly exhausted right now... I just came back from a staff retreat camping weekend at Huang hua cheng section of the Great Wall (also known as 水长城 Shui chang cheng).


It was a great experience and bonding session since we just started working together and will be together for the summer. We left Saturday morning early to take the shuttle up to the Great Wall. Once we made our way to the entrance, we hiked up to the camping site with our backpacks filled with food, supplies and tents.
This was my first time actually camping--like woods, bugs and pitching tent status! It was very exciting to learn about that and do all the outdoorsy things that came along with that...

We decided to wake up early to catch the sunrise today, but sadly due to the mountains we weren't able to watch the actual sunrise. It just kept getting brighter and brighter. While people went back to sleep, I decided to take that time to walk around the area and take photos. I climbed onto sections of the wall that said 'no climbing' but there was no one around so I did it. It was worth it because it was gorgeous!
Having that serenity around you just allows you to be so content with where you are in life. It also makes you wonder about the structure that was built so long ago and yet it still stands somewhat intact. All the effort, blood and sweat to build each and every brick.

I didn't climb all the way to the top where the towers were because 1. I'm scared of heights and also 2. I still respect part of the sign lol Even though I didn't go all the way, I definitely pushed my comfort zone and attempted the climb half way. The satisfaction of getting the view all to myself was worth it enough.


After the morning climb/stroll, went back to sleep for another hour before waking up to make pancakes with the rest of the team while it decided to rain. We had a tarp thankfully set-up last night so we weren't soaked when it poured around us.

After breakfast, we had to get ready to head back down to return to our retrospective homes. It feels so good to shower again! No lie, I am so sore right now from the hike, climbing, walking, and backpacking portion of the trip... I sound like a wimp lol

I have tomorrow off, so I hope to take that chance to sleep in and explore the city again. Wish me luck! I really hope I don't get lost because that would suck.