Ever since I saw Mulan as a child (yes, the Disney movie, and yes, I know), I’ve wanted to see the Great Wall of China. When you think of China, you think of the Great Wall (and pandas), especially when coming from a Western perspective. While I’ve discussed my mixed feelings towards China, and the country is obviously much, much more, the Great Wall was a highlight of my trip. It’s also the story I tell people when they ask about China: the experience of getting there, being on the Wall, and getting back all sum up the confusion, complexity, stress, pollution, crowds, beauty, history and culture of China.
It was our last day of work, and we were having a celebratory lunch with our colleagues when suddenly they decided it was our last chance to go see the Great Wall. One minute, we were eating Peking duck, and the next minute, we were racing back to our rooms to get ready in twenty minutes.
As was typical in China, I can’t imagine trying to get to the Great Wall by myself, without our translator and her driver (again, I know). I’m sure it’s possible, but the language barrier is so strong, I’m not even sure I could do it without a tour. I consider myself a fairly savvy traveler.
After about an hour-long drive out of Beijing (I had no idea it was so close to Beijing…I didn’t know much in China), we arrived and got in a long line for a tram up to the most popular section of the Wall.
Our first twenty minutes on the Wall were crowded, and stressful, and full of snapshots of us and all around us. I heard about six tours giving the spiel of the history of the Wall. From eavesdropping on these tours, I learned that, when someone died while they were building the Great Wall, from being overworked, they were merely thrown into the Wall, meaning we were, according to legend, standing on a graveyard.
Nice. And not surprising, given the treatment we had seen of the people in China firsthand.
I also learned that there are many other sections of the Wall to visit, that are less touristy, and that the Wall does not actually span the entire country, as there are plenty of mountain ranges to help protect the country. It’s also not visible from space (bummer!) and was almost immediately breached.
While it was fun to listen to these tours, I was very happy we were able to hike a little ways away from the crowds and tours, and it was there that I fully realized I was standing on the Great Wall of China. It felt utterly surreal. I definitely may have cried a little bit.
Then, it started to rain. I was glad that the heavy air wasn’t just smog, but also contained water, because it looked pretty gross when I thought it was all smog. I, of course, ended up way behind the group, taking pictures and savoring, so I had to run down the steep, slippery stones to catch up. It was a moment of total joy, laughing to myself as I slid down the Wall.
We were in the rain for awhile, as we’d taken a weird route, the long way, which we didn’t realize (again, typical), and when we finally got off the Wall, the area was abandoned.
Except for two men selling ice cream, which of course we had to buy.
The rain was torrential now, and to our dismay, our translator informed us we had exited a spot on the wall that was about two miles away from our car, waiting to take us back to Beijing. We convinced the ice cream men to give us a ride (which they wouldn’t do without a price, of course) and we drove the muddy, half-flooded roads back to our car. It was a terrifying twenty minutes, as cars all around us were stuck in the mud, crashing into each other, and at one point I flew from the back of the van to the front. No seat belts, yo.
We did make it back safely to our warm car, and drove away from the chaos. We were soaked, freezing, relieved, giddy, in awe, stressed, and exhausted.
(sorry for the overload of photos! I just couldn’t narrow them down more!)
Today I am linking up with Bonnie, Tina and Melanie for Travel Tuesday, one of my favorite blogger link-ups!
This post is letter G for the A to Z Blogging Challenge. Click the image below for more information, and to check out the many other awesome bloggers!
I’ve never had much desire to visit China, however the Great Wall is of course something I want to see someday. Your pictures look wonderful! Great topic for G 🙂
Thanks! G was harder than I thought! China, besides the Great Wall, wasn’t huge on my list, but I recommend it and hope to go back someday!
I read your fist sentence and nodded my head. YES. Loved Mulan as a kid. What an amazing thing to see. I can’t wait to visit the Great Wall. Great photos!
Are you going there soon? I’m glad someone understands my love of Mulan and how Disney movies can inspire wanderlust 🙂 thanks so much for stopping by!
Wow. I loved everything you shared here. My husband and I are really interested in visiting China, but we’re concerned that it’s a place you really have to see with a tour because of the language barrier. Would you recommend that’s the best way to do it? Any other tips on China?
I went on an internship with my grad program, so most of the time we had a guide. I found it especially helpful in the rural areas we visited, because most of the people there had never seen any foreigners, so didn’t have the need for any English! I think it would be easier to do the bigger cities without a guide or a tour, but sometimes it’s hard to get a visa if you aren’t on a tour, I’ve heard? That may be changing, though, as it was easier to visit for us and they told us China is interested in getting more tourists. I got along okay alone in Beijing with my Lonely Planet, because it had the Chinese characters for all the sights I wanted to see, so I just pointed to the written words for the cab drivers, as most of their English is very limited. If you do go, make sure to get out of Beijing–I went to the Sichuan province and it was so naturally beautiful, and it’s the best place to see pandas 🙂 I want to go back and explore even more, someday! I don’t mind tours for hard to reach places or day trips, but I don’t love them for longer periods of time, as I want more freedom, but I think China might be a place I’d consider a tour, just for the convenience! Whew, that was a lot, but if you have any more questions, let me know 🙂 thanks for reading!
Thank you for ALL of the insight. I’ve never known anyone who has visited China for an extended period of time (and came home, a lot of them stayed). Pandas are on our must-see list wherever we can find them, so to Sichuan we must go!
No problem! I saw a panda kindergarten and a nursery and they were possibly the cutest things, ever 🙂 you can also pay extra to hold them but it was a little too pricey for me!
{gasp} WHAT?! Hold THE PANDA BABIES?!
Can we organize a blogger travel trip specifically for panda baby holding? I think that sounds like a great idea.
yes please! Blogger trip to rural China! I love it 🙂 I know I have to go back there to actually hold those little pandas, anyway!
I love all of the photos! I too hope to get to the Great Wall in China someday (and see pandas!). I’m so glad you had the chance to experience it!
It’s definitely a must-see! Too bad we can’t see pandas ON the Great Wall 😉
The Great Wall is definitely one of the highlights of my trip to China. Your photos bring back great memories!
It was beautiful, for sure! I was worried it wouldn’t live up to the hype, but escaping the crowds helped 🙂
No, don’t apologize, these photos are flippin’ awesome! I love the fourth one down- what great perspective! I have no doubt that visiting the Great Wall was surreal.
thanks! I’m glad I didn’t go TOO overboard on photos in the post…although I may have at the Great Wall ;). I had to lean dangerously over to get the perspective that I wanted for that shot haha, and had several tour guides thinking I was about to jump, but I think it was worth it!
Umm, wow! That certainly sounds like quite an adventure! I hope to make it to China someday–I do speak some Mandarin but I know I will be pouring over the books before I make my trip, that kind of language barrier is very intimidating!
Awesome that you speak some Mandarin! I tried to learn some before and during my trip, but I struggled with it a lot. Of course the words/phrases I remember are things like “watermelon” and “I love you,” not necessarily useful 🙂 thanks so much for stopping by!
I’m always so amazed when I see photos of this great wall. I don’t know if I’ll ever get there, but it sure is a beauty!!
It’s not the easiest place to get to for sure, but it was worth it 🙂
thanks for stopping by! xo
I live in Ningbo but I’m yet to visit the wall -hopefully during the summer! Are you leaving china or just beijing?
I spent last summer in China, partly in Beijing, but am back in the states for a few more months now before I head to Europe!
Thanks for your post. I hope to make it to the wall some day!
Thank you for reading! I hope you get to visit, too 🙂