The Great Wall of China

On October 1^st, Jordan and I woke up bright and early (5 a.m. to be precise), to go to the Great Wall of China.

Prior to leaving America, I knew that I wanted to visit the Mutianyu section of the wall, so I was very excited when we discovered that our hostel offered a tour to that area. For those who do not know, the Great Wall is 5,500 miles long. Across the length of the wall, are different sections that can be visited. Badaling is the most popular, and is closest to Beijing, therefore it is the most crowded. Mutianyu is a bit farther away from Beijing, so it is less busy. Another nice aspect of Mutianyu is the fact that it features both restored and unrestored sections of the wall.

Although we went with a tour group, we were permitted to be very independent. We were given three hours at the wall, and were allowed to use it however we wished. Jordan and I chose to take the cable car up to the top, and then work our way toward the unrestored section of the wall. Hiking up to the wall takes approximately an hour and a half. The cable car on the other hand, takes only eight minutes. I am very glad that we did that, rather than hiking, so we could see more of the Great Wall, since we had minimal time there.

Words don’t accurately describe what it feels like to stand on the Great Wall. The whole experience is surreal and moving. Jordan and I stood in awe as we looked at one of the wonders of the modern world. We both were at a loss for words when we stood atop the wall. The Great Wall itself is incredible, but so is the surrounding scenery. The landscape next to the wall is so mountainous, that it is amazing to think that an enemy army could traverse such a landscape.

Jordan and I were able to explore the majority of the restored section as well as part of the unrestored section. The restored section was fairly crowded, but wasn’t so busy that you couldn’t get decent photos of the wall. The further you went along the wall, the less busy it became. One thing that surprised us was the fact that the wall had so many stairs and steep slopes. There were times where we were walking straight up a steep staircase, or down a curving slope. Most of our trip along the Mutianyu section of the wall was uphill, or upstairs. We thoroughly enjoyed stopping at all of the watchtowers, and taking in the view from above.

Such a climb

So steep

Watchtower

In order to access the unrestored section, you had to show a guard your ticket, and then jump over the barrier. Luckily we saw a few people do that very thing; otherwise we wouldn’t have known how to get to the unrestored area. I am so glad that we did a balancing act across sections of the wall so we could get to that spot. The unrestored area is amazing, and is far less busy than the restored areas. Jordan and I loved that the Mutianyu unrestored section was crumbling slightly, but was still safe enough to traverse. We also loved that we only saw about 10 other people on the wall. During this time alone, we were able to take lots of photos of the wall, without hundreds of people impeding our pictures.

Sadly, because of the limited amount of time that we had, we were forced to turn around shortly after reaching the unrestored area. Despite the small time that we had there, we absolutely loved it. Getting to that spot made our time on the wall even more incredible. Jordan and I both feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to walk on the Great Wall of China. As an added bonus, we visited the Great Wall on Chinese National Day, which is a celebration that resembles The United States’ Independence Day.

Now, I want to tell you all about our tour guide, Chen. Chen was hilarious, and liked to call himself “Tour Guide Chen,” which made him even better. He was a fountain of knowledge about the Great Wall, Beijing, and modern Chinese history. Tour Guide Chen had a dry sense of humor, and spoke English very well. On the way back from the wall, Tour Guide Chen told us all about his family. He told us that him and his wife found out they were pregnant when he was 16, and she was 18. He dropped out of school in order to provide for his new family. He worked as a security guard for a number of years, and was hired as a tour guide several years ago. Apparently he was interviewed on the news about his tour group, so according to him, he also is famous. About four years ago, him and his wife paid the fee that China has in order to have another child. They were very frustrated when two years later China announced that citizens were now permitted to have two children without paying a fee. Still, he loves his little family, and works hard every single day to provide for them. We thoroughly enjoyed Tour Guide Chen. He made our trip to the Great Wall even more memorable.

Tour Guide Chen

After visiting the Great Wall, Jordan and I wandered around Beijing, taking in the sights, and excitement of Chinese National Day. We found it rather interesting though, that the majority of Chinese citizens didn’t display any form of national pride. During America’s Independence Day, most people wear red, white, and blue, and take pride in displaying their patriotism. China was different. Although there were flag vendors, and people selling stickers with the Chinese flag, most people weren’t excited about the national holiday. This was especially surprising since Chinese National Day is one of China’s biggest holidays of the year.

The Great Wall of China exceeded all expectations. It was a dream. We both thoroughly enjoyed our time there, and were appreciative of everything we were able to see.

Bonus photo: Here's a puppy that we played with next to the Great Wall.