Great Wall

I was able to visit the most famous attraction in China this week, the Great Wall, during a school sponsored trip on Thursday. We left around 8 in the morning and it was about a two hour drive north of Beijing. The area we visited is called Mutianyu, a very well-preserved section and therefore a popular tourist destination. But since it was a Thursday morning it wasn’t too crowded, even though it was a perfect day to go with clear skies and a slight chill to cool you off after the long walk up the mountain (the steps were super steep and it took us about 40 minutes with several breaks). The fall is a great time to go to Mutianyu because it is surrounded by wooded areas and really makes for a colorful landscape. We walked along the wall for several hours taking pictures and watching for Mongols attacking on horseback from the north.

Two things that struck me while walking around were the sheer immensity of the project (the walls and fortifications stretch for some 4,600 miles) and then the seamless blending of the wall with its surroundings. One famous Chinese historian contrasts the Western view of man conquering nature with the Chinese view of man bending to nature in order to sustain such an enormous population. That idea is supported by the almost organic wall that winds up over the backs of the ridges and then slides back down into the valleys in its serpentine attempt to hide itself in the vegetation. For the trip back down the hill I road on a sled-like conveyance with wheels that rolled down an aluminum slide like a bobsled. They put my safety concerns to rest by offering a one RMB (the Chinese currency) insurance policy, or about 14 US cents. Overall the trip was terrific and my high expectations were certainly met. I hope to return at some point and maybe visit some of the other sections of the wall. I posted some pictures under the link below.

Great Wall