Great Wall of China

This weekend was some of the most fun I have had in a while (partly because I was no longer sick and damning the entire country of China!). Friday was a scheduled CRCC event for all the interns at the Beijing Huiling Community Service for People with Learning Disabilities. It’s a wonderful charity organization here in China that helps to empower those with mental disabilities, providing them with an outlet to interact with other people through arts, physical activities, and community gatherings. As soon as we all got there they put on a show for us that featured choreographed dances, Chinese rapping, singing, and even a little acting play. You can tell how excited they were to be performing for us foreigners; they even had some of us dance and sing along with them. Afterwards we did some arts and crafts and had a nice opportunity to interact with them. All in all it was a very nice event.

On Sunday we visited a section of the Great Wall of China. This is by far my favorite place I have visited while in China, and possibly one of my favorite places I have EVER visited. A group of 25 of us rented a bus for the day to drive us out to the Great Wall. The ride took about an hour and a half which isn’t too bad. The entrance to get to the wall started at the bottom of a hill and you can either walk up a trail (about 20 minutes) or take a gondola for an extra 50 yuan ( 6.3 yuan equals 1 USD). Only three of us including myself took the gondola, but it was so worth it. The view from up there along the ride was breath taking. You could see mountains all around you with little villages at the foot of each, and the Great Wall spreading out in either direction. We got to the top a little before the walking crowd so we met them on top of the Great Wall. Just walking on top you can see out for miles around you; a very beautiful sight. We started walking along the wall and that was an experience in itself.

When the sections of the wall were built beginning in the 7th century BCE, they were built along the tops of mountains following their every twist, turn, rise, and drop. As a result, some sections are nice and flat, while a few hundred feet away it’s extremely steep! Well, this is exactly what we experienced the whole way; STEEP!! Some stair cases looked as if they were almost going completely straight up and it was very nerve wrecking. Every few thousand feet there is a watch tower where we would rest, look at the amazing scenery, and take pictures. These high tourist traffic areas of the Great Wall are renovated and kept nice so they look how they did hundreds of years ago. But the majority of the entire Great Wall in China is run down and falling apart, almost to the point where it is unrecognizable.

Eventually on our hike along the wall we reached a sign that read “No further entrance,” and for a good reason. It was at this point the renovations had stopped and the wall was overrun with forest, beginning to fall apart in some places. Of course as tourists, we didn’t pay mind to this sign and kept going, and I am happy we did. This was this side of the Great Wall I wanted to see; the run down, historic looking, no other tourists around, secluded part. We had to work our way around bushes and weeds while walking, and even avoid little parts where the wall had broken off and the cliff was exposed (I know my mother is not too happy with me right about now). We got to where a watch tower should be, but at this point it was collapsed and a pile of bricks. Of course, we climbed to the top of what was left of the tower and the view was something I will never forget in my life. Completely indescribable.

A few German tourists were walking back towards us from further along the dilapidated wall, who advised us to go no further because the hike was not worth it. So, we took a few more pictures and made our way back. Rather than walking or taking a gondola back down the mountain, wall all paid about 40 yuan to take a toboggan down which was AWESOME! We all had our own personal toboggan which ran along this scenic metal course to the bottom of the mountain. And I must say these little things were very, very fast; I almost fell out during a turn or two. All in my entire trip to the Great Wall was incredible. It was exactly the experience I wanted.