Great Wall

I've always considered the Great Wall, which recently got selected as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World, one of those things I should see because I am in China, not one of those things I am particularly excited about seeing. I mean, it's just a big, long wall (or so I thought). Since I had not seen it yet and we had visitors at the office from other countries who wanted to go to the Great Wall earlier this week, I tagged along with them. We were short on time so we went to the Mutianyu section of the wall, approximately 90km outside Beijing. On a clear day in Beijing, you can make out the faint outlines of the mountains on which the wall is built on the horizon (but this is a rare sight indeed). We had a relatively pollution-free week and really good weather so it was a great time to go.

There are 2 ways to up the mountain to the wall - hike up hundreds of steps or do it the lazy way and go up via cable cars. We decided to walk up. I have to say I was really impressed with the wall when I made it up there. You can see the wall stretch in both directions as far as the eyes can see. It was built over the course of 2,000 years and measures about 20,000 km, going all the way out to Gansu province in the west. Beijing is definitely not the only place where you can catch a glimpse of the wall - it's just the most convenient one for visitors. The views from the wall are beautiful. Although the trees have not changed colors yet, the mountains were tall and majestic and surround you on all sides. While there is some development in the area, I think the government has done a good job maintaining the pristine beauty of the countryside here for visitors to enjoy.

There are many sections of the wall you can visit around Beijing. Some are completely renovated and feel very fake, but there are other sections that are unrenovated (in fact, sections of it are crumbling) where walking along the Great Wall makes you feel like "you are walking on a part of history." I'd definitely want to try hiking from Jinshanling to Simatai sometime this month. Now that I've actually seen the wall, I am excited about that trip!