The Mutianyu area near Beijing is a great place to visit the Great Wall of China. It’s not crowded, a long stretch of the wall itself is restored to good condition, the surrounding natural scenery is beautiful, and it has a chair lift and toboggan! But today I’ll focus on the mundane aspects of the visit: what you see when you pay your money.
At the top of the chair lift is kiosk where they try to sell you pictures of yourself on the lift, and sniffing around the kiosk was this adorable little kitten with a fuzzy neck. She looked up at me long enough to allow this picture to be taken, but didn’t stay perfectly still, even then:
Later, after climbing around on the wall, we visited the gift shop. I was surprised to find this mug at the cash register, serving as a container for souvenir pens:
On close inspection, the print on the mug to the right says “University of California Berkeley Mom.” Is someone who works at the Great Wall’s son or daughter going to school over here, across the Pacific, near my home?
Just one of many pieces of evidence that we are all connected somehow on this planet.
For the Mundane Monday photo challenge #121.
A Thousand Finds 
Didn’t you see the I-love-NY t-shirts next to the I-climbed-the-great-wall t-shirts?
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a small world it really is, eh? 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
It’s nice to see things that are close to our heart in far away place.I think for the Chinese it will be easier.”Made in China’ everywhere!
LikeLiked by 2 people
True. That mug, even though it came from the UC Berkeley bookstore, was probably Made in China.
LikeLiked by 1 person
haha.. well that probably is the truth.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi KL – a bit sad to see similar things everywhere – be we in London, CA or on the Great Wall … and always ready to make an extra buck or two … just glad you’re having that opportunity to visit – my goddaughter recently spent some time out there … cheers Hilary
LikeLiked by 1 person
I did have less culture shock in Asia than I expected. Every country we visited, including mainland China, seemed to have westernized, modernized, and be welcoming to tourists. It did make our trip easier, and I especially appreciated that we had guides who spoke good English because my efforts to learn Asian languages didn’t bear much fruit.
LikeLike
The kitty, though, she was a little different. Most cats I see in the US don’t have all that neck fur, like a lion’s mane.
LikeLike
I have had longhaired cats (two, one of which is still here) that have (had) furry necks. Maybe it depends on the breed/exact mix of breeds.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was at the Po Lin Monestery on Landua Island, Hong Kong, and under the alter was a box with the label “Washington State Apples”. That struck me as very funny — to travel so far to see apples from my home. On that trip we were also at the Great Wall, probably in the same area, as I remember the shopping as much as the wall itself.
LikeLiked by 2 people
We were in Hong Kong on this trip too. If I have the energy I’ll blog about that next. It was very hot and humid there. I think my day on the Great Wall might have been my favorite day of the whole trip. Warm but not stifling, stunning scenery, some silly fun also.
LikeLiked by 1 person