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So - were in the middle of the country side - why is there a 4000 mile wall you might ask? :). The construction of the Great Wall of China began in the 14th century and continued through the 17 century - part of the Ming Dynasty. It was built to protect China from raids by the Mongols and Turkic tribes. Guards used to stand along the wall, and lit fires when enemies approached. The wall didn't serve its grand purpose in the end, as the Mongols and Manchruians broke through, attacked, and took power over Chinese provinces repeatedly. However, the wall did help unify the territories within, as they were under an umbrella of shared protection via the wall. Of course, centuries of weathering, pillaging of stones for houses, and bulldozing for transportation projects have caused large gaps in the wall. Many parts have also been restored to "full grandeur", such as Badaling near Beijing (the ultra touristy place most tour groups go to). Anecdotally, the wall may have lost some to this pillaging, etc., but it also continues to "grow", as archeologists have unearthed sections of the wall over the years (ie, sections which have been covered by sand).
After the first couple hundred feet, we ran out of the nicely restored areas, and hit large portions where the path was missing some rocks here and there, some places with gravel, some places with brush, and some even with 70-80 degree climbs up and down steep stairs! It was easy to twist an ankle here, but we took our time and continued on. We had 5 hours to do the 6 mile walk - so we figured we'd be ok :).
We walked along the other half of the wall with Veronica - making sure she was ok (she was walking alone - as her friend had gone back via the cable car to take a car ride over to the other side). The walk was a bit challenging at times, but we enjoyed every minute of walking through the Chinese countryside. At the end of the hike, we spent the extra $4.50pp for a zip line across the river - fun! View Great Wall and Terracotta Warriors Photo Gallery Day 128 - Beijing < | Index | Photo Galleries | > Day 130 - Beijing © 2007 Blue Ocean Studios, LTD. All rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Services | About | Contact Prints | Return Policy | View Cart World Travel Galleries | World Travel Blog | Links |
It was time to conquer the Great Wall of China. We headed out to the Far East International Hostel in downtown Beijing. We had the street address of the hostel and closest major hotel location translated into Chinese. We left at 5:20am, giving us 40 minutes to make this 4 mile journey (plenty of time - right?). Of course, we received the immediate head nod from the cab driver when we showed the major hotel name and were off. I also showed him on our ultra handy Best of Beijing Lonely Planet guide map (don't leave home without it - seriously!). 
About 2 minutes into our cab ride, our driver was asking for the name of the hotel again (had he already forgotten?). Then, a phone call was made (and I heard him say the hotel name over the phone). We were on a major highway, and we pulled over to on the non-existent shoulder. It was time to take over. Instead of showing him the location on the map (it's mostly in Latin characters, which more cab drivers cannot read). I pointed to the Temple of Heaven - a major tourist attraction nearby, and he nodded ok. We were going to have to inch our way over to the hostel. After 30 minutes of driving, we were getting close, but also running out of time. Finally, we made it to the Temple of Heaven. Our driver wasn't confident in our navigating skills, so he pulled over to ask a few people who had no idea. We kept telling him to continue - but he stopped anyways. Finally, he listened, and followed our guidance. We made one more wrong turn - but we're very close - and luckily - Jaimie rolled down the window and showed the address to someone on the streets (remember it was very early still!). This person knew the street we needed, and we turned down a random tiny alley into a Hutong (local neighborhood with tiny streets). Luckily, we spotted a tiny sign pointing to the hostel and arrived at 5:59am for our 6am bus departure!!! Pheww!. Nothing is easy here when it comes to communicating and getting to a destination! 
After our intense taxi navigating, we caught our bus to Jinshaling. It was a slow 3 hour drive to go 60 miles. We arrived in Jinshaling around 9:30am. The great wall was near. We paid $4pp to enter the wall area. Once in, we slowly began our day of fighting off vendors and enjoying our walk along a portion of the 4,000 mile wall. The wall was a stunning sight. When I hear the word wall - i think of a flat wall - ie, similar to those around the palaces, temples, etc. we've seen. Not this one. It's a twisty, windy, curvy blockade that bends and climbs tall hills and spiked mountains. It was beautiful! I would never imagine we would get a chance to walk along the wall. 
At one point on our walk up to the wall, we were surrounded by 4 or 5 vendors. They were actually walking along side us - not constantly trying to sell their wares, but trying to annoy us by walking next to us, until we bought something. We all stopped and then they stopped. I turned to them - and told them no - we didn't want anything and basically to go away (politely though :)). Luckily, after a few times, they left us alone. This scene was to be repeated throughout our journey along the wall! :( We climbed up and began walking along the wall. The day was, unfortunately, very cloudy, and low clouds consumed the wall in the distance. However, it was a magnificent sight and experience to be walking along the wall - so we didn't let the sky bother us too much :). Actually, the temp was perfect, and a sunny day might have made this a bit more exhausting - so while the pictures aren't as good as they could be - it was a bit better for us physically. :) 
About halfway through our walk, a Norwegian girl, Veronica, stumbled upon us from behind. She was huffing and puffing - clearly just finishing a decent jog. Right next to her was a Chinese woman, red in the face and clearly out of breath. Veronica looked a bit shaken. She told us that this woman wouldn't stop following her and she was freaked out. Basically, this lady following her was trying to sell her postcards and had followed her from the very beginning! Veronica ran for the last 5 minutes, and this lady followed her like glue! That's persistence!! Of course, we had to save her. I first just told the woman to stop following her - repeating "Thank You" over and over in Chinese, and to leave her alone. That didn't work - she kept pointing to Veronica and saying "Postcard" - as if Veronica now needed to buy a postcard for all the running she made her do :). She wasn't going to let go of this one. I had the group and Veronica walk ahead, and I blocked the path for the Chinese woman. She kept yelling at me, trying to get by me. I looked around at the Chinese tourists around me - with a clear expression of Help Me on my face. They just stared at the two of us - not saying a word. I was a bit annoyed by this as it was obvious I was saying no and I couldn't speak Chinese to this woman, and she didn't speak any English except for "Postcard". I tried turning around and walking a few feet and the woman followed me (trying to pass to run ahead). 
I turned around again, and said the only other thing I knew in Chinese, "You look very pretty today". She looked at me like I was crazy, repeated "beautiful" to me (I think actually correcting the way I was saying it :). It was funny - she kept trying to pass and I kept blocking. After about 5 minutes of this, I let a group of people pass, and I followed them (we were in a corridor section where it was single file - so this lady wasn't going to be able to pass everyone). I turned around after a few seconds to see she wasn't following and had finally given up. Crazy. 