Journey to the Great Wall of China


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Asia » China » Beijing » Great Wall of China
July 1st 2015
Published: July 1st 2015
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As our car travelled higher and higher up the narrow mountainside road, mist rose from the deep valleys. High overhead ravens circle, the only sound being their caws echoing from one mountain peak to the next.

We have been traveling for three hours since leaving the capital of Beijing. We sensed our destination was near.

As we turned a sharp bend in the road, our driver pulls over and says in Chinese, “out of gas”.

Erin and I look at each other. How does someone who makes a living driving people around run out of gas? As I strain to look at the dashboard; sure enough, the needle is below the red. He says he has enough gas to get back down the mountain and into the town of Huairou to refill. Erin and I shrugged knowing it was that or be stranded on a remote mountain road in a place we have never been.

Making a careful u-turn, he stomps on the gas and we fly down the mountain, tires screeching around every hairpin turn. I feel like a pig in shit and love the rush; it’s like the great rollercoaster on earth! Erin too looks relaxed and wears a grin as the car weaves around the sharp turns only inches from the edge.

Ahead of us is a line of cars and we figure it will take longer than we thought to get back down. Without touching the brake, the driver yanks his wheel to the left bringing us into the oncoming lane where we fly past car after car unable to see around the next bends. As a car comes around the curve ahead, he whips up us back into the right lane, grazing the bumper of a car inching along. As the car passes, he again storms into the oncoming lane and continues this cat and mouse game for the next thirty miles. He was fearless and we feel alive.

In no time we were back to the base of the mountain where we commended the driver on his skills. He says he likes it. Erin and I agree that his dream was to be a race car driver, and if he had the chance, I think he would do just fine!

After refueling, we headed back up the mountain, again caressing the edge of the cliffs as the driver tries to make up for lost time. Soon we are again nearing the summit.

Entering a tiny farm village, our driver turns up a narrow dirt path entering the depths of the forest. We are a long way from the China we have become accustomed to.

Stopping the car, our driver points towards a path that ascends through the trees and we make our way towards the next leg of our journey. We are surrounded by silence, a deafening sound compared to the constant hustle of China’s megacities. Climbing the steep path, we see our destination high above us. We are almost there.

After another twenty minutes we emerge at a tall rock wall and carefully climb its side. Pulling ourselves over the edge, we stand and are faced with a sight like no other. There, stretching in both directions towards the mountainous horizons is the Great Wall of China, and we are standing – so tiny – in the middle of it.

I am speechless and Erin too looks in wonder at the scene laid out before us. In that moment all of the pictures that I have stared at since I was a child came to life in a way I never felt possible. It is unlike a feeling I have ever felt, for in an instant I am humbled, inspired and awed. How could something so incredible be done? Nothing could have prepared me for what I feel. The ideas running through my mind are endless as I imagined the millions of people that gave their lives to building the wall and the two thousand years it took to construct this structure that stretches seven thousand kilometers across the continent through some of the most rugged terrain on earth.

“Erin”, I say in awe, “I am grateful to share this moment with you, for it is one that will linger with me forever”.

This part of the wall is forbidden to tourists; it is well off the beaten trail and has in no way been touched since it was built thousands of years ago. In some places the stones crumble and stubborn trees grow through cracks in the mortar. In many sections the near vertical inclines are such as I never imagined and we carefully hike across one of the greatest creations on Earth.

As we climb up a rough section as steep as a ladder, we wonder how something so immense could even be designed, let alone built. Erin climbs slowly, her fear of heights justified as we look down to the ground thousands of feet below. We take each other’s hand as we carefully negotiate our way to a more stable part of the wall, then stand and look again at the world around us.

In time, despite wanting to trek the thousands of miles from end to end, we know our time is running short and we still have a long journey back to Beijing. Climbing down towards the path, we turn and look up once more at an image that will forever be etched in our minds.

In a life that so easily becomes preoccupied in the hustle and bustle of work and business, it is so important to find those moments that reground us and bring us back to a place of serenity. We often need to be reminded of the spirituality that connects us to the whole, for we are so small, so fragile and just one part of a much greater picture.



As the car races down the side of the mountain, I sit in silence. Who am I really? Who are any of us? What role do we play in life and why is it that we get so caught up in the things that really do not matter? It will be an answer I will forever seek, but it is these moments that adds to the person I strive to be. In the meantime, sharing these adventures with Erin is what life is all about.

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2nd July 2015
Stretching into the distance

Looks like you accessed one of the more spectacular parts of the Great Wall. Am I correct if my guess is it be Simatai Great Wall?
3rd July 2015
Stretching into the distance

Hi Dave, This is actually the Jiànkòu section of the wall in the Huairou district. It was exceptionally beautiful and rugged... well worth the trek away from the crowds!
6th July 2015

Jiankou
Thanks for letting me know. I have not accessed this section so now on my list for next time. Extra special when you can trek in from a village and access unrenovated sections too...especially when its just you up there!

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