The other day, I went hiking on the great wall with my landlord and a friend.  We took a 公交车 (public bus) to Huairou County, where we proceeded to 爬长城 (climb the Great Wall).  There were a lot of places where it would be very easy to 摔 (slip), and the hills could be quite 斗 (steep).  Having eaten a hearty 煎饼 (fried egg pancake) for breakfast, I had more than enough energy to take in and enjoy the 风景 (scenery) and fresh 空气 (air).  When we were 下山 (coming down the mountain), I slipped and fell down backwards but immediately grabbed a tree root which was fortunately grounded.  Hanging upside down, I reported to my 2 hiking partners that I was fine, and took about 20 seconds to right myself and get on stable ground.  They say that cats have 九条命 (9 lives), I don’t know about humans but I’d say that I nearly lost one this past weekend.  All said, a memorable excursion!

公交车 gong1jiao1che1 public bus
爬 pa2 climb
长城 chang2cheng2 Great Wall
摔 shuai1 slip
斗 dou3 steep
煎饼 jian1bing3 a type of fried pancake with egg and vegetables
风景 feng1jing3 scenery
空气 kong4qi4 air
下山 xia4shan1 to descend a mountain
九条命 jiu3tiao2ming4 9 lives