The Great Wall

We've arrived in Beijing and have started getting accustomed to the bustling, bicyclist vs car filled, streets of this city. We'll follow up with more on Beijing, as we still have time here, but wanted to at least post a few pics of our excursion to the Great wall.

We arranged a visit to the Great Wall of China out of tourist necessity as much as anything else. It's introduced in Kindergarden Geography, and a "wonder of the world" so when your a short drive away you have go to see it. All the same, even though its ancient (600 BC)s and run across half of China (6000km) how impressive can it be to see a long tall wall?

Suffice to say, for the better part of 2 days of hiking and one night camping on the great wall we were absolutely awe-struck. Maybe it was our own naivete but expanse of the structure, as it careens over cliffs, along ridge lines and wraps off into the distant mountain haze is mesmerizing. It's just so foreign to see a man-made structure stretch over such a distance.

We were lucky enough, due to Christy's planning (Dion has to admit) that through West China Adventures we visited a unreconstructed section from 1300's (much of today's wall was built in that time frame during the Ming Dynasty), nearly absent of visitors. We scrambled as much as hiked, climbing & descending steep sections of the wall to the towers spaced every 200-500 meters. As we gained elevation we could see more & more of the wall snaking along the ridge line, creating a barrier that sits at the highest point whatever it is, and is still unimaginably imposing.

We camped on the highest tower of the two days, and rose before the sunrise to look over the valleys and the watch the morning light reveal distant portions of the wall. Dion is already claiming these 2 days will be the underestimated highlight of the entire trip abroad.

Pics of the two days hiking the wall with our guide Vicky. Note in a few pics the wall running along the ridge in the distance.