This is probably the best-known spot in China: The Great Wall. It lies in the north of Beijing (around one hour by bus), and it is the combination of several smaller defensive walls, which the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, who was as brilliant as tyrannical and megalomaniac. He was the first one who unified China, and who reformed it, and also got a lot of improvements for the country…

He also started joining different defensive existent walls one to each other, to protect China from the Mongolians from the North. This work was followed by other emperors for centuries, and according to Wikipedia, a couple of millions died during this work… I believe it. Take a look to the place where it is located: in the middle of no where, in the highest point of a hilly area, and following the slope…

When walking on it (and take into account that I went to the touristic part, which has been kind of repaired and prepared for the tourists), you sometimes face really tough slopes where you almost need to use the handrail (did I say it was prepared for tourists) to go up, and you definitely need it when descending, if you do not want to roll down…

And, of course, Beijing Olympics were also present there… China is very proud of having organized this event, and you see many referrals to it all around China: squares with sculptures, flags, logos, etc. The slogan here fits quite well with the environment: Qin Shi Huang could have chosen it himself: One World, One Dream.