We had arranged to meet our guide, Sonja,
from "Tours by Locals" at 9:30am for the 1 1/2 hour ride to the Wall.
As we were getting ready to leave the room, we saw a troupe of Lion Dancers
getting ready to enter the lobby. Drums beating, cymbals clanging, bells
ringing with yellow and red lions dancing toward the entrance. We descended to
the lobby as the lions started jumping, dancing, cavorting and celebrating with
various acrobatic tricks to scare away the evil spirits and bringing good luck
to us all for the year of the Ram (or goat, or sheep - seems they are all
synonymous to the Chinese). We took photos, and posed for pictures with the
lions before heading off with Sonja and "Bill" our driver. This was
New Year's Day and one of the most important holidays to the Chinese - a time
when they "go home" to spend time with their families, back to their
roots for a day of gathering and sharing traditions. I felt guilty that we were
taking both Sonja and Bill away from their families, but would not have missed
the Wall for anything, what an experience! I'm not sure what I expected, but we
passed hundreds of thousands of new trees, all dormant, but planted row by row
and quite a variety! It won't be long
before the countryside around Beijing is forested with bright green, eventually
helping control the pollution. The small
towns we passed along the way had the sidewalks in front of their stores filled
with stacks and stacks of red, yellow and orange boxes waiting to be sold to the celebrants for the
New Year's festivities. There were so many boxes and so many stores, it didn't
seem possible to sell everything on display!
We were dropped at the entrance to the Great Wall, Sonja
picked up our tickets and we were on our way. We had chosen the Mutianyu access
as an easier access to the Wall with less walking... HA! We walked thru about 1
1/2 miles of street stalls as we steadily walked upward and onward and still we
walked on. The souvenir stands displayed Chinese Army Hats, T-shirts, huge fur
hats (wolf?), ear flap hats, stalls with coffee, hot chocolate, water,
snacks... it was cold! We reached the
junction where you either started climbing the trail to the Great Wall, or you
continued to climb up to the available
enclosed gondolas, but we were still climbing the two sets of steps trying to
reach the ticket booth! Ah, but wait there's more! There was probably another 5
minutes of climbing steps and inclines before reaching the cable cars, followed
by some deep breathing and gasping for air... it wasn't cold anymore!
Throughout the climb, you would catch glimpses of the wall snaking its way
through the surrounding hills and up the mountain, just like the pictures! It
was spectacular. First built during the Northern Qi Dynasty in the 6th century
it's been restored and rebuilt throughout history and it offers some of the
most unforgettable views of towers winding across the forest and mountains.
They say on a clear day you can see the deserts of Mongolia... we didn't see
Mongolia, but the view was spectacular. The ride up to the top was uneventful
other than John's screams. Once we got off the gondolas, there was even more
climbing... and several more ascents and levels before we actually made it to
the to the top of wall. The last push to the top was a series of steps, each
with about 15 inch risers. And once you finally made it, you spent your time trying to keep your
balance as nothing was even! You were either on an incline or decline, or
tilting to one side or the other. Big stairs, little stairs, up and down but no
level ground to be found. We didn't walk any great distance along the wall, but
did the touristy thing for about an hour taking pictures of the Wall and each
other and simply marveling at the massive structure as the Wall snaked below
us, above us, until it faded into the distant hills on the horizon. There were
arrow niches and drains about every 4 yards between the towers; it seemed
impregnable, but we understand from our guide that it was only challenged
twice, and both times it failed... I'm pretty sure that I've read that it's the
only man-made structures on earth that can be seen from space.
On our descent we encountered a Chinese couple, probably
in their 60's or 70's that were coming down the walking trail just below the
cable car turn around... through gestures we determined they had walked up and
were in the process of walking down! Holy Toledo! I can't imagine. We were all
exhausted even with the cable car and ready for nice toddy! Happy New Year!
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