4ever Discovering
Exploring the Great Wall of China
Is This Real Life? We Made it to a Wonder of the World!
When you think of China, you probably think of the infamous Great Wall. I know I do! When Emily and I were planning our trip, we made sure to do everything any other tourist would do during their stay; that meant splurging on a day trip to visit the Great Wall. We knew we wanted to visit Beijing, and being the relatively closest city to the Wall, we also knew there would be a lot of tours offered there. Luckily for us, our hostel was awesome and offered two separate tours to see the landmark of China. One tour was to the more ‘touristy’ part of the Wall, and the other was to one of the unrestored sections. Originally, Emily and I thought about going on both tours. We thought ‘why not?’, seeing as we were only planning on doing it once in our lifetime. Might as well see them both, and then not have to worry about missing out on anything, right?
The first tour we went for was the touristy one to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. The day trip included the transportation there and back, plus lunch. It wasn’t a bad deal (considering we were going to do it, no matter the price); however, we did have to leave pretty early. The bus ride didn’t seem that long outside of Beijing; it was all of the little stops we had to make along the way to pick up other people at different hotels and hostels. It was a great time to take a little nap!
Once we got to the Great Wall, it was a pretty surreal moment. I couldn’t believe I was standing next to a wonder of the world! I was even more excited to make it to the top and stand on it! We were given the option to either take a 30 minute climb to the top, or pay for a gondola to take us there. Emily, Rachel, Sarah and I knew we wanted to take the slide down, so we opted for the deal to take the gondola up. It worked as a round trip ticket; we could take the gondola up, and the slide down. It was a win-win situation. Also, by not climbing to the top, we saved some time to walk on the wall more (and maybe even explore around it).
The gondola to the top was pretty amazing. You got to see a bird’s eye view of the Great Wall, while being completely awestruck by the fact you were even there in the first place. It was exactly like riding a ski lift to the top, except for the part where there were no skis (only a little sprinkle of snow!). Yes, China was that cold. Seeing that little snow was the closest thing we got to winter this year (and I am not complaining, I swear). Once we reached the top, we took the tour guide’s advice and walked right. He said this would lead us to the unrestored section of the Great Wall, where we could explore the non-tourist section (a.k.a. where we aren’t really supposed to go). We decided we should make our way that way, and see what we would run into.
The view from the top of the Great Wall was nothing short of extraordinary. The best part about going there around Chinese New Year was the minimal number of tourists. I felt like we were the only people on the wall; we had it all to ourselves! Standing at the top and looking around me, I felt like I could see all of China. It was an invincible feeling, knowing that you made it to one of the wonders of the world. I know many people come to visit here every year, but it was still surreal to think I was one of them! Last year, I never even dreamed of travelling to China. It’s crazy how opportunities present themselves, and once we take them, the outcome and moments we seize are so rewarding. Standing there, at the top of the Great Wall of China, was by far, the highlight of my trip. Even now, I find it incredible to talk about. I will always remember that out-of-body experience I felt, feeling like I was on top of the world.
After we got our touristy pictures (with our Canadian flag, of course), we realized we had walked to a point where we couldn’t really walk anymore. According to our tour guide, there was a whole other section to explore. The fortification we were standing on was completely blocked off to go any further. You could see there used to be a door to walk through; however, it was now cement filled. We assumed they didn’t want anyone to walk past this point. We, on the other hand, thought this was an opportunity to find a way around the roadblock. From the point we were standing, we could clearly see the extension of the unrestored section of the wall; we just needed to find a way to get there without breaking any bones. We also spotted a couple walking around, so we knew there was definitely a way!
We started to walk back in search for a door, or some kind of piece of wall low enough to climb over. All of a sudden, we found this open door with stairs leading to the field below. We decided to take the risk and climb down to see where it led us. As long as we followed the wall, we would be able to make it to the other section. With such a big landmark, you couldn’t really get lost; you always had a reference point to follow. After about a 10 minute trek off-track, the four of us made it to the unrestored section of the Great Wall, where we could really see how it looked before it became a tourist spot. It was completely different than the restored section. There were weeds growing everywhere, and it even had holes in the ground. You really had to watch where you were walking. Emily, Rachel, Sarah and I walked for about 20 minutes until we decided to head back. I think we would have been safe to keep walking, but it’s China. You never know who is watching or what law you might be breaking.
Because we ventured past the limits and got a little taste of the unrestored section of the Great Wall, we didn’t think it was necessary to do the second tour. Although it would have been awesome to go to another section, we all thought it would probably look the same. It was a unanimous decision to save our money and put it towards another trip (maybe Disneyland!).
Although most of our tour was self-guided, we did learn a few interesting facts on the bus ride there (when I wasn’t sleeping). First off, for anyone who is lacking the basic Chinese history lesson like I was before I came, the Great Wall of China was built over 2000 years ago. It was designed to keep out intruders (mostly Mongolian), and if you’ve seen the Disney movie Mulan, you might recognize the Huns. All I could think about when I was in Beijing was this movie and how I needed to rewatch it to see where it was filmed (I definitely remember seeing the Great Wall of China in it). This landmark is said to be the only man- made structure you can see from space; it’s that big! It’s so big, nearly 400,000 workers who were building it died during its construction. The spooky part is, it is said they were buried in the wall once they died. I didn’t see any ghosts, but I don’t think I would go back here at night. The Great Wall of China is also so big, it is over 22,000 km long! I thought the 14 km bike ride along the Xi’an Wall was long, but this is just insane. The tour guide said it would take almost a year to walk all of it. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I would even try it.
Our trip to the Great Wall of China was more amazing than I imagined it would be. I still can’t get over how incredible it felt to be standing there, feeling so grateful for such an inspiring opportunity. The highlight for me was definitely taking the slide down to the bottom. It reminded me of a luge track; we were convinced we could make the Canadian Olympic team after that. Not many people in the world can say they have slid down the Great Wall of China, and I am happy I got the chance to experience it with such a great group of friends. I also didn’t mind cracking a cold one at the top (I thought it was an appropriate time to have a drink). I will cherish these memories forever, and encourage everyone to get out there and do the impossible! You never know where your crazy dreams will lead you.
