This gallery contains pictures from my first trip to China in November 2007. It was a short trip of just 10 days. I could go around Beijing and Shanghai a bit. I went to the Badaling section of the great wall. Climing the wall showed me how unfit I am, even after biking 8 miles, 5 days a week. I climbed from tower 1 to Tower 4 of the Badaling section which is open to the public. It is supposed to be a good section for normal people compared to Simatai. But that itself was a massive undertaking. I was gasping badly after crossing the third tower and had to stop for a while to stabilize. The thought that came to my mind at that time was, how those folks build such a massive wall 100's of years ago, when we can't even climb the easiest section of it. The Badaling section of the wall is built during the Ming Dynasty and took 150 years to build.

The day before I left Beijing, I went to Summer Palace which was reconstructed by Chinese empress Dowager CiXi in 1897 after it was burnt down by Anglo-French forces in 1866 during the so called Opium war. The summer palace is a retreat used by the emperors of Ming dynasty and the later Qing dynasties. Now let me talk about my visit. The day I chose was the worst day of my entire trip to visit Summer Palace. It was raining all day in Beijing and was very cold as well. But I could manage some shots and are posted here in this gallery. Please do leave a feedback if you like or dislike the pictures.

Thanks for visiting my gallery. More pictures will be added soon.

I am looking forward to go next year again.

Please note:
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All new pictures will be posted at the end of the gallery.
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Last Updated : 28th November 2007 (23:50 GMT)