China’s Great Wall
There is no doubt about it – this wall is all, and more, than anything you have any logical right to expect. No matter what perspective you take, this wall should overpower your senses and your muscles!
Aesthetically, it has a sinuous grandeur that is quite breathtaking
Logistically, it defies the imagination
Engineering-wise, it is a colossal achievement
As a symbol of what absolute power can achieve, it is a mightily sobering experience
As a physical exercise, it will stretch you well beyond your comfort zone.
I have already written about the challenge of getting there and back in my last post and Rach has already posted a graphic description of the day, with some beautiful pictures, so I really cannot add much more to that,
But the day was too significant to leave unrecorded, so this is my small comment.
The Wall of course, meanders for 100’s of kilometers along China’s Western border and it is possible to take a sample of it from many different spots, Our spot was not too far from Beijing, but not that close either – considerably further than I thought it would be. Rob’s GPS regurgitated a good summery of facts and figures and some of you may be interested in the following section. (if not, please skip on regardless)
Great Wall Walk 29 March 2009
Trip to Jinshanling….Bus 980 – 72 kmsMinivan – 69 kms
wall walk 7.2 kms total actual wall (not including the lead up to wall or walk down the hill from ice-creams etc
OVERALL AVERAGE 2.7 KM/H FOR WALK
MOVING AVERAGE 4.6… PRETTY GOOD GIVEN TERRAIN
Bus trip back 136 kms total (incl van from SIMATAI)
The Wall sits on the top of the ridge of the hills, and slavishly follows that ridge no matter how impossible that route might appear.
I suppose from a planning perspective that made things simple: just stay on the ridge and head North. But the resulting profile of the Wall defies logic and ones imagination. How you start to dig foundations and build a wall on the steep slopes of a mountain side, I cannot imagine. How you haul umpteen million bricks over such broken terrain I can;t imagine either. Not to mention paving slabs, roofing tiles etc etc.
To get started on the Wall you first have to get up onto the ridge – and that is your first big test. These stone steps were not planned by NZ architects – they were cut into the hillside to get up there somehow, anyhow. So the tread widths are irregular, and the riser heights are irregular. No steady rhythm here. For me it was trip, stumble,stagger, gasp until mercifully we were at the top. In my ignorance I had thought that once we were at the top, the Wall itself would undulate gently up and down across the countryside. Hah!
How wrong can you be? The climb up to the ridge was merely a warm up – now the work really begins! Clambering up almost impossibly steep steps, cruising briefly between watch-towers 
before stepping gingerly around crumbling ledges, gasping for more air, sweating profusely and trying to appear totally in control of those shaking legs – was for me a real challenge.
Fortunately we had to take a delightful short-cut away from the wall for a few km, because we were running out of time, The brief few km of dirt path winding through the vallies with the mountains and Wall high above was a delightful reprieve from the strenuous stuff of the wall.
But we had to climb back up, and clamber through another 14 watch-towers before descending down a steep gully and across a Swing bridge, and back to base
What a fantastic experience it was! If I see little else of Beijing, with this my senses are well satisfied.
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