Great Wall...
Trip Start
Feb 26, 2007
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26
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Trip End
Jun 16, 2007
Beijing,
China
Thursday, June 14, 2007
The taxi ride from the airport was an experience in itself, taking nearly two hours to go less than 30km. It was amusing to see how road rules basically didn't exist, with cars constantly cutting in front of others and jumping red lights, not to mention the endless beeping of the horns. Slowly, we made our way through the hutongs that criss cross through the city, and it was surprising to see just how poor these areas were. The pollution was also immediately evident making it more of a challenge to breath, so all in all my first impressions weren't great...this place was a far cry from any city I'd visited in Japan.
My hostel was in one of the aforementioned hutongs, but it was actually a great place with a pleasant courtyard, nice restaurant, and very friendly staff
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. The fact that they sold huge bottles of beer for 30p was also an added bonus!The only 'must do' thing on my list was a trip to the Great Wall, and as the hostel was doing a tour to the less touristy section at Mutianyu on my first full day, I paid the ten pounds and tagged along...
Luckily the weather was clear when I woke up, although the sky still wasn't blue because of the air pollution, but because Mutianyu was a couple of hours away, I knew that this wouldn't be a problem, and I couldn't wait to see the wall snaking off into the distance...
There were a few hawkers at the entrance to the Great Wall, a recurring annoyance during my brief stay in China, with the women trying to sell you t-shirts and repeatedly saying "I'll remember you" for when we'd return later in the day. Thankfully by the time I'd got a chairlift up to the wall, they were a thing of the past, apart from the odd one selling water but these were more than welcome as it was very hot, with the temperature around thirty degrees.
I was surprised at how steep the wall was in places, and it was very up and down, but of course this just made it look even more dramatic
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. It really was a stunning sight, and after the initial thirty minutes or so, I'd escaped from the other tourists and had it all to myself for large periods. The sun was shining and the surrounding scenery was amazing - if I'd have just slept for the rest of my stay in Beijing, I would still have been satisfied since this was one of the best experiences of my life.There was one exceptionally steep and prolonged section of the wall that led to the end of this particular section, since the wall was partially destroyed beyond that point. There were a few friendly American guys at the top so we took photos for eachother, and I bought an ice cold beer from a woman who probably did the hike every single day, and it tasted great!
We had four and a half hours on the wall in total, and by 3pm it had become totally deserted, so I sat down for a bit in a particularly scenic spot and took in the view. It felt quite bizarre to actually be on the Great Wall in relative solitude, but I think it's something that everyone should try to experience at least once in their lifetime. As Mao Zedong famously said:
"He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man..."
