Great Wall, Not So Great Air

Busy two weeks since my last post. Two Fridays ago we went hiking at Xiang Shan (Fragrant Hills) on the northwest side of Beijing. Here's a shot of Beijing from partway up:And it is also apparently the home of who I can only assume is Smokey Bear's cousin:
There were also lots of nuts:
Then, the following Tuesday, two of our Korean friends flew in to hang out for a few days. First, we went to a section of the Great Wall at an area called Mutianyu, about an hour north of Beijing. Unfortunately, the air was very hazy that day from pollution (even that far from the city), so here's the best shot of the day:Also saw this in a public restroom while out on the town last week:Not exactly sure what a "bumf" is, but apparently it is to be put in this box.

We also hit the Summer Palace, and visited a portion of it called Suzhou Street, which is actually a canal with shops on both sides:So we saw some cool things, but by the end of the week we just wanted to send our friends on their merry way back to Seoul. Their rude bargaining tactics, incomprehensibly slow walking speed (more like the opposite of speed), and overall infirmity (see DiploWhat's recent post) left us more worn out than we had expected.

So please, dear American friend, come visit us!