Wanli ChangCheng

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The Great Wall (Wanli ChangCheng) was:
Amazing.
Fulfilling.
Surreal.
Mind blowing.

There aren't enough words to describe it. It was an out of body experience. Our tour guide told us a saying in Chinese, that we are not true men until we have walked upon the Great Wall. Well I've walked the great wall, and I'm still a woman. But if it had worked, we would totally shut down Thailand's sex change tourism industry for sure!

To walk along a structure that was already in existence nearly 3000 years ago, which is nearly 4000 miles in length leaves you in awe of mankind's ingenuity. The actual structure I walked upon was built in the Ming Dynasty around 1600. This was a battleground and once defended empires. If you look to the North, the mountains were the same as the ones the ancient Chinese soldiers watched for enemy invasions. Then I'm stunned into silence all over again. Did I really descend from these people, from this culture? Listening to the tour guide talk about the history of China, and I'm a foreigner all over again. I straddle two cultures, but I'm much further West than I will ever be East. I studied 400 years of US History, my counterparts studied 5000. How much of this complexity and depth did I lose through immigration? How much have I gained?

Did I mention that The Great Wall is no stroll through the park? It goes through mountains and ravines. And it's not level. At one point I think I may have been vertical. And I didn't pack anything but flip flops.



It felt like the time I decided to hike the Appalachian Trail in running sneakers. Except I didn't have a 40 pound back on me, thank goodness. And I didn't sprain both of my ankles.



I was sweating. A lot. And the stairs which were built hundreds of years ago? They aren't even, and sometimes they had deep grooves that were just big enough for your foot to fall into if you weren't careful.



You know what's awesome about being black in China? Random people grab you and beg you to take pictures with them. My two classmates have been the ultimate rockstars of the trip.








Soldiers and horses from centuries ago walked along these same stones



This is a picture of us after we made it up to two towers. You can't tell, but we're beat. And the walk down was ten times more dangerous than the walk up.



One World. One Dream. 2008 Olympics.

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