Some travelers, such as this couple, feel more comfortable when accompanied by a guide. Yet looking at this image, I get the feeling that these people probably wish they were somewhere else at this moment. The Great Wall of China is a series of continual steep climbs and descents, climbed slowly and carefully. Their body language tells me they are trying to do just that, yet their guide strides ahead as if they were invisible, leaving them to struggle up the steep grade by leaning sideways and climbing upwards at the same time. The hills and towers in the background provide important context for this story, expressed as “street photography,” even if the street in question was built in 1368. As I say in the introduction to my street photography gallery http://www.pbase.com/pnd1/street_photography ) “street photography means telling stories, showing how people spontaneously react and interact in public places.” And that is exactly what is happening here. The couple reacts to the stress of traveling the Great Wall of China in one way. Their guide reacts in quite another. There is a gulf between this guide and his clients, aside from the distance he strays from them. His attire is very much in keeping with rural China -- an undershirt, baggy trousers, old hat. He may also be carrying the woman’s backpack in his hand, so he is acting as porter as well as guide. His gaze is steadfast. He has done this before and he will do it again. His clients, however, pay him no heed – they seem zoned out, struggling mightily to keep pace as they zigzag their way along the unforgiving humps of the Great Wall of China on a steamy, misty afternoon.