Beijing Part I: The Great Wall

The part of Beijing I was most excited to see, was the Great Wall.  We all (my visitors) wanted to see the Great Wall.  I mean, come on, it's the Great Wall!!  It's one of the world's most recognized national monuments.  In 2007, it was voted as one of the new seven wonders of the world.  You can see it from space! (Well, I think this might have been disproved, but it sure sounds cool!).

I have made hints before about how my American education made my knowledge of China somewhat limited.  Well, I am sorry if this offends you, but it's true--unless you take fairly specific courses in college, most Americans do not learn too much about China.  We do, however, learn about the Great Wall of China. I remember learning about how this emperor demanded it be built in order to protect his boarders against nomadic warmongering tribes, commandeered a bunch of peasants, and when they dropped dead from exhaustion, had their bodies thrown into the construction site that would eventually be the Wall.  The Great Wall (along with Pandas) also seems to be the images that we associate with China--Google search China and see how many times the Great Wall pops up.  Needless to say, everyone who came to  China (myself included) wanted to see the Wall.

Pic of some characters on the mountains declaring loyalty to Chairman Mao (I believe), and Mom on the Great Wall!

The Wall did not disappoint.  It's huge, it stretches for hundreds of miles, it's ancient, and huge sections of it are totally accessible to tourists.   There are a couple of different ways to see the Wall.  I recommend booking a trip with your hotel or hostel, as this is usually safe and at a fairly reasonable price.   They will also have different trip packages, to different sections of the wall, which offer a different experience.  Many of them will take you to a section called Ba Da Ling; it is the most famous stretch of the wall, but it is also the part that has had the most renovation--it does not look ancient at all.  The next most common section is Mutianyu--this is a pretty awesome part of the wall because it has been renovated just enough to make it safe, but there are still lots of large, crumbling sections, and the view of older parts of the wall and mountains in the distance makes this place totally worth it.  However, there are further sections of the wall that are remote and not renovated at all.  If you are looking for a completely authentic Great Wall experience, I would recommend trying to go for one of those.  They will take you out for a day trip, and some places also offer a two day hike, where you actually camp along sections of the wall.  It all depends on the experience that you want to have.  Again, I would look to a hotel or hostel, or find a reputable tourist group before coming to China, to navigate the more remote areas of the Wall.

Shenanigans on the Great Wall, July 2012 

My first time visiting the Wall (and Beijing) was in March of 2012, with my mother.  This is right in the beginning of spring, so it was not cold, but the landscape around the wall is not lush and green, but still brown and hibernating from winter.  This does not afford a lot of contrast between the wall and the surrounding environment, but on the plus side, it does mean that the view of the wall is not blocked by the jungle that is normally growing there; you have an unrestricted view, until it curves around the mountains. We booked our tour through our hostel (365 Inn was our hostel, and I highly recommend it!) to see the Mutianyu section of the wall.  If I hadn't have liked any of their tours, however, I could have gone to one of the dozen or so hostels nearby and checked out what they offered--you don't have to stay at a hostel to use their tour bookings! The hostel took care of contacting the tour group, told us to be ready to go at (uhgg) 7:30 am the next day.

Great Wall in March

The tour group picked us up at our hostel, we made a couple of stops at other hostels for more tourists, and then we began our trek out of the city of Beijing.  Now, the wall is not right in town; it is in the mountains, and depending on traffic, this is about a two hour trip.  Which is just fine, because you get to hear some interesting stories about the section of the wall you are about to visit. You get the wall around 9:30 and you have until 1:30 to explore at your leisure before meeting back up with your tour group for a quick lunch and a ride home.   This is plenty of time to see a fairly decent chunk of this section of the wall.  You take a cable car ride up to the wall (for about 80 RMB, but it is worth it because it shaves off the 40 minutes it takes to walk up to the wall).  If you are at all weary of heights, this cable car is going to cause you a bit of anxiety, but it is totally safe.

Echo, our tour guide giving us a few last minute pieces of advice before turning us free, our cable cars, and my particular reaction to heights...

I visited this particular section of the wall again a few months later, in the summer, and was very glad I did.  This time everything was in full bloom, and while the view was restricted by all the foliage, seeing the sections of the wall peek out from the greenery, seeing that contrast, was worth the second trip.  I also got to see one of my good friends attempt to climb the Great Wall.  You may be wondering what I mean when I say climb...well, what seems to escape the notice of most foreigners (myself included) from all those lovely pictures of the Great Wall, is that it is actually a giant staircase.  There are very few sections where it is simply a rolling pathway; most of it is steps.  And not even steps--some steps are barely a few inches high, and some steps are about 1 1/2 feet high.  Some steps are on a nice sloping incline, and some steps take you almost vertically (seriously, we were on our hands and knees at one point) up the side of the mountain. And going down is not any better--now you get to look at this vertical drop and hope you don't trip, cause you know you'd feel that mistake for weeks.  Needless to say, any trip to the Great Wall is going to require a bit more endurance and stamina than most tourists expect.

Scary stairs...manageable stairs....and scary stairs again! It was back and forth the whole way. 

Coming back down from this section of the wall is also a treat.  You can take the cable car back if you wish, or you can choose to take the Toboggan.  Becky, the friend who came to visit me on the summer trip, wanted to Toboggan.  And I am glad she talked me into this; it is basically a sled, with a pull break, that you cruise back down the mountain side in.  If we hadn't been stuck between a tiny elderly lady who rode the break the whole way down in front of us and a few crazy Germans who didn't bother with he break at all behind us, it would have been totally fun--though it was still totally worth the ride.  Below is the video of said ride.

My third and last visit to the Great Wall took place on my fourth and final trip to Beijing this past December. I do not recommend going to the Great Wall in the winter if you have a choice; it's in the mountains and it's hella cold.  However, Amanda, who was visiting, had it on her bucket list to see the Great Wall of China.  So I was going to make that happen, darn it.  To avoid certain death, I decided to take her to the Ba Da Ling section.  I figured the renovated nature of this section would prevent us from injuring ourselves (the other sections are uneven, crumbling, and not well maintained--adding a layer of snow and ice would surely result in an injury).  Despite visiting the wall on the coldest day of the year, I was really glad that we did.  One, Amanda's reaction to seeing the Wall was fantastic.  Two, the Wall (and surrounding mountains) covered in snow was really freaking pretty.  Lastly, we managed to convince a third friend, and current native of Beijing, to come with us, resulting in a fun few hours of hiking, sightseeing, and funny photo ops.  Additionally, he showed us how to take the public bus system right to the wall--no tour group or nothing!  Plus, this particular section has what basically amounts to a sedate roller coaster which takes you up and down to the wall.

Pretty Winterscape on the Great Wall, Life List further completed, and monkeying around on the Wall.  All in a day's adventure. 

If I learned anything from these multiple trips to the Wall, it's that the Wall is completely worth a visit if you are going to be anywhere near Beijing.  Do not let the season stop you; it really is majestic in any season, whether you are sweating under layers of winter clothes or sweating in a tank top (cause you will sweat on those stairs!) the Wall is something to see.  So bring your climbing shoes, a bottle a water, and some energy, and tackle the Great Wall if you are in Beijing.

Great Wall in Spring, Summer, and Winter...it's all pretty awesome.