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“It goes on for miles,” our guide, Leon, says to us as we walk, “It is probably the most famous landmark of this country, very beautiful.” He is right; it feels like I have stepped into a page of a travel brochure. Slightly out of breath and standing on a rocky, uneven step, halfway up, I pause for a minute. Taking my sunglasses off, I put my hands on my hips and breathe out, taking a moment just to appreciate exactly where I am. The air feels warm but fresh and I am a little worn out from all the climbing done so far but, basking in the warm morning sun, it feels like we have the place to ourselves. We are on the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall of China. There is nobody else about and it feels truly surreal, as if I have gone back in time to ancient China! I’m half expecting a Chinese soldier to push me out of the way so he can look out from the little square view points in the wall, spear at the ready. The only person we encounter this morning is a frail elderly man who has carried a battered portable fridge full of drinks with him up the wall. He offers us a drink, but we decline as it looks like it would be more hassle for him to untie the tattered old rope that holds the fridge to his back. We carry on upwards, thighs burning from the steepness of the rocky steps and reach one of the ancient watchtowers. The arching shape of the window, frames the contrast of the grey stone walls with the greenery of the bushes and the blue morning sky beautifully. I am amazed at how peaceful the atmosphere is. I had heard how over-saturated with visitors some parts of The Great Wall can get and China is, after all, famously one of the most populated places on Earth. The only sounds breaking the silence are the rest of the group’s excited cries of “Oh look at that view” and “Holy hell, it’s warm up here!” We Brits can’t appreciate a good time without complaining about the weather at least once after all. “What is that sound?” one of the guys suddenly asks. We tune out of the scenery for a moment and can hear something that sounds like muffled singing. For a while, none of us can make out where it is coming from, but then, in the distance, we see a sea of white shirts, broken up with the unmistakable bold red of what appears to be a large Chinese flag. As we make our way towards them out of sheer curiosity, it transpires a choir is being filmed for China’s 70th Anniversary Celebrations. We wait at the bottom of the steps and applaud them when they have finished. The Chinese choir is delighted to have a live audience and offer to sing an extra song for us. They are equally intrigued by our early morning visit, as we are by them. We get chatting to the choir and curiosity gets the better of them leading to one of our tour group being interviewed by the Chinese TV company. They are pleased we are enjoying China and they tell us they are excited about the anniversary celebrations that are taking place the following week. China’s Celebrations are to mark the anniversary of the 1949 founding of the Peoples Republic of China and events are happening all over the country. After one last goodbye and the camera filming our curious British faces for the TV edit, we head back down to the bottom of the wall. I catch up with our Chinese guide, Leon. Whilst we are musing about the Choir’s performance I ask him about the type of music he enjoys. “Have you heard of the, erm, Black-Haired Beans?” he asks enthusiastically. “Do you mean The Black Eyed Peas?” I question, amused at the slight mistranslation. “Ah yes,” he chuckles to himself, “Them, they’re cool.”