Nicholas Quirke was venturing outside Beijing again on 24 May 2020 and heading to another section of The Great Wall with more spectacular views. It meant an early start, on what was going to be a very hot day, and a new arisem shirt, some new shoes to climb in and a new bag to use for Nicholas. Once they were off the express way and on the country roads he had an overwhelming sense of Deja Vu and it was indeed the road he had been on when he visited the Wall at Mutianyu in 2018. They were passing the Ming and Ding Tombs and they made it a plan to visit when he was back from Nanjing. Once again the journey through the mountains was magnificent, passing through villages, seeing people at work in the fields and on their arrival at the Lakeside Great Wall seeing the biggest dam he had ever encountered. They passed through a tunnel into the park and the landscape opened up into a wondrous idyllic sight. They decided to walk the 5 km round the lake first before tackling the wall which was partially submerged in the lake and not as challenging as the climb they had taken at Gubei Water Town. The views were breath taking and everywhere he looked there was another vista that in the heat was like a paradise. It was only a short section of the wall that they were negotiating as the renovation work only reached to the top pinnacle which was steep but not too onerous, if it hadn’t been for the fact that the shoes he was wearing rubbed his Achilles’ tendon creating sores which made it difficult to walk It would have been a relatively easy climb. The trouper that lives inside him made it to the top but when the option of taking a magnetic car down to the valley presented itself he was keen to take it. It proved to be a good idea as the views were quite astounding. They continued to the submerged section of the wall and then, having completed a full circle of the lake crossed the dam and set off back to Beijing for a late lunch at Mrs Yee’s. They had eaten there previously and arrived about 3pm ready to enjoy a delicious piping hot rice noodle dish with all raw food, no faux meat. They were served a complimentary warm soy and date drink and with two hot waters each, ended up with a plethora of wooden beakers around them. At home they continued with the spring clean and then sat down to enjoy another horror movie, the French Canadian art house offering, A Ghost Town Anthology. By bed time his stomach was in riot and it was with some dread that he took to his crib, fully expecting a disturbed night and though it was not something he desired, his expectations were not disappointed.