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| The Great Wall. One of the man-made wonders of the world. China's most visited tourist attraction. A truly amazing site. But look closely, and you'll notice something very odd about these photos. The tourists are missing! This was during the peak of the SARS crisis May 2, 2003.
Normally, the Wall would be swarming with busy holiday weekend crowds, but the day before, the Communist government canceled ALL May Day activities, closed all travel and tourist agencies, and grounded all tour buses. No tours of the Wall were allowed, and rumors were persistent in Beijing that the Wall was closed. We hired a taxi for the day and found something surreal, the beautifully restored, picturesque Great Wall at Badaling, as lonely as it would have been 600 years ago. Only Chinese locals and one small tourist group shared the entire Badaling area with us, and we soon left them behind! |
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Kim, above and at right, enjoying some private time on the Great Wall.
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| At left, the footfalls of millions of tourists have worn down the steps of the Wall into scalloped shells of soft edges. | |||||||||||||
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