The Great Wall

The Great Wall is definitely high up on the 'must do before you die' list and it didn't dissapoint. The Great Wall was built to keep marauding nomads from Mongolia out of the Kingdom. The Great Wall never really did it's intended job as a military barrier, but did provide an invaluable means of transporting men, goods and information over extremely treacherous terrain. As everyone has seen in pictures, the wall snakes for thousands of miles up and over mountains peaks into the distance.
Our trip out to the Great Wall started early on Thursday morning with a 3 hour bus trip through congested Beijing traffic. There are many sections of the wall surrounding Beijing, some completely restored and others crumbling to bits. We visited a bit of both on our trip. We arrived at Jinshanling to start our 10km hike along the length of the wall to Simatai. The section of the wall at Jinshanling is very much un-restored. Certain points are roped off due to the precarious state of either the wall or guard towers. Other sections are in remarkable good shape and have definitely stood the test of time. As you climb along the wall you can see it bobbing up and down in the distance as it peaks at the many mountain tops that dominate this part of China. Our day was wonderfully clear and crisp, which was a welcome retreat from the suffocating smog of Beijing. The first half of the hike was rather strenous with a few step climbs over crumbling stone, but the views were stunning wherever we stopped. A definite bonus of suffering the cold of a Chinese winter is that the wall was practically deserted except for the 10 or so people on our tour. As we neared Simatai certain sections of the wall have been restored and over a welcome escape from the previous scramble. A bit beyond the Simatai exit the wall ascends steeply up onto sheer cliffs. This section is not open for exploring, which is probably on smart because the fall from the side is immense. Our experience of walking the wall incredible and is a must for everyone who visits China. As Mae Zedong said 'He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man".