Relationships

It took three days, but I finally made it to the Great Wall. I hopped on one of these niftly little tour buses. I paid the equivalent of $6 for them to comfortably drive me to the Ming Tombs and the Badalang section of the Great Wall. Now let me tell you something about these tour companies. While not a rip off by any means, they do have something going with a few vendors along the way. Instead of just stopping at the places I paid for them to stop, they included a few little side visits along the way.
1. The Ming History Museum. 40 minutes of reading about what the woman probably just explained on the bus. Although I'm not sure, since I could neither understand the Chinese, nor did I pay to go into the museum.
2. The Center for Geology in China. a.k.a., "Here's where all the good jade comes from. Now, step over here into this gigantic jade showroom, and buy yourself a few pieces!"
3. Souvenirs, souvenirs, and more souvenirs.