I'm going to Beijing and would like to visit the Great Wall, but I've heard it can be difficult for a person with disabilities. Is this true?
While it's possible for someone in a wheelchair to be carried up, it's a very difficult trip requiring several young men to do the lifting and carrying. But the Great Wall will be more easily accessible starting in May.
According to an article published recently in the English-language China Daily, a sloping path is under construction that will allow wheelchairs to reach the platform of the first beacon tower at the popular Badaling section of the wall. "The work will not do any harm to the Great Wall itself," said Wang Fengbim, an official with the Yanqing county tourism bureau.
Visitors with limited disabilities can also reach the Badaling section via cable car, said Vicky Ho, a spokeswoman for Bejing Xinhua International Tours. A tour to see the Great Wall includes private car transfer, English-speaking tour guide, entrance tickets, lunch and the cable-car ride for $105 per person. Go to tour-beijing.com.
In anticipation of this summer's Olympics, 60 other tourist attractions in Beijing are being made accessible to the disabled.
I'm a native-born American but recently obtained a New Zealand passport through my father, who was born there. I want to use my new passport for a trip to New Zealand but am concerned it might jeopardize my return to the United States. Can you help?
Make sure you carry both passports with you on your trip. When asked for your passport leaving and returning to the United States, show your U.S. passport. When arriving in and departing New Zealand, show that country's passport.
No need to worry about jeopardizing your return to this country. According to the U.S. State Department Web site: "Use of [a] foreign passport does not endanger U.S. citizenship."