The Last Great Sight

The Great Wall of China. One of the foreseen highlights of the trip. One of the greatest sights created, up there with the Taj Mahal and Great Pyramids, at least in my mind. So we did some research on it in the Lonely Planet Book our great hostel, The Red Lantern, lent to us. It was our last day in Bejing, Special Sunday, and the last big sight of the whole trip. So a special day.

After a bit of discussion, we hired a taxi driver for the day, packed our bags got in the car, and told him we wanted to go off to the great wall. There were actually multiple sections of the great wall listed in Lonely Planet. Most were far away and not that safe, and one was technically illegal, had no reconstruction work on it, was dangerous and occasionally you had to scale the wall on ladders. That left two different sites up for grabs. They were both fabulously touristy, and we chose the less touristy one. The other apparently had guard rails on the side.

So we were driven to the wall, and got out. It was going to be a long way up. Before we began our ascent, we stopped at the nearby Subway to fuel up. After a delicious sandwich, we began trekking upwards. Before we could start on the trail, we walked through streets literally lined full of tourist shops, selling fake jade, fake antique fans, fake brush paintings, and fake copper dragons.

The trail was divided into small, short sections of stairs, followed by a small area to rest. We climbed up them. On them we saw a cool, twisted stump that had coins stuck into it all over. Some sort of prayer ritual. After another few flights of stairs, we emerged onto a side of the very-reconstructed great wall. We climbed some steps and emerged on the sloping wall.

The views were great. We could see mountains, countryside, small towns, evergreen trees, and distant guard towers built hundreds of years ago. The wall stretched up to mountains on either side of us.

It was an amazing sight, that must have taken a very long time to build. It actually didn’t work. It was too big to man properly, and the invading Mongols, the sole reason the structure was created, got through the gaps that were inevitably placed. It was funny the Chinese even bothered to build it; The Great Wall was such an insignificant barrier compared the huge mountain range surrounding it. We spent a while discussing it’s military and other uses- it was a good relayer of supplies and information. I assume the towers would be lit one after another to pass down information, like the scene in Lord of The Rings.

Anyway, it was fun hiking up the wall. Guard towers were placed at regular intervals, where we would go inside, look at the view, and occasionally be allowed to climb the stairs onto the roof. The floor’s slope changed constantly, so sometimes we were walking on smooth ground, and sometimes the gradient was so steep Emma and I easily used our hands. Small tourist shops were also placed regularly, selling cheap Mao hats, tempting cold soda, and the occasional ‘I Climbed the Great Wall’ badges. The reconstruction work wasn’t perfect. Once a wall ran right into a window. It was, however, very fun to see the wall as it did hundreds of years ago. Although there wasn’t much to blog about, we spent a good portion of the day hiking and climbing and taking lots of pictures.

The Great Wall (again)

On the way back we bought a few magnets, a Diet Coke for dad, and some water. Then we climbed back into the taxi and took off for the airport. After going through all the regular procedures, we got on the best budget airline flight in China. It was owned by Cathay Pacific, the reason it was so great. It was also the longest, so that might have been a contributing factor as well.

Us at the great wall

Nonetheless, we got to Hong Kong, done with our real sightseeing. Mom and Dad had some mixed feelings, but I wasn’t really facing the reality of it yet. Not until we really got on the flight back home would I think about it, and even back in the US our trip wasn’t going to be truly over yet.