My visit to the Great Wall 11 years ago

I visited the section of The Great Wall eleven years ago while vacationing in Beijing. It was at least a two hour drive north of the city,but well worth it. what was disturbing to me was that once we reached the bottom of the immense hill below the wall, we were bombarded by merchants trying to sell their cheap souvenirs. Then we were obliged to pay for the tram to take us up the hill.In itself, that was not a problem . the tram however took us only half way up the hill.We were now stranded there unless we paid AGAIN for the second tram that eventually took us to the top and The wall. to add insult to injury, on the wall itself we were met by even more merchants. It was 26 degrees below zero that day and we had travelled far to see the prize. My interpreter settled them down just long enough to allow me a few moments to take in the wonder of the Wall. Their voraciousness forced us to cut short our visit. Such a shame.I'm sure It will be my only chance to see it.