The Great Wall of China

It’s a 530am wake-up today in order to travel the 70km out to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall of China. Whilst a little further out of the city than some of the other sections, the Mutianyu has two distinct advantages to us – it should be less crowded, and it offers a chairlift to the top – something someone wielding a walking stick will appreciate (and me also when I think about it).

Due to an accident, the traffic is even more horrendous than usual. It takes a good 90 plus minutes of driving and I spend the majority of the time with my eyes tightly shut, wincing at all the near misses – (speed limits on these motorways are 120km/h and we often exceed this).

Off the major motorways and again the greenery of this part of China surprises us. We pass acres and acres of orchards – cherry, peach and persimmons to name a few. We pass beautiful waterways dripping with weeping willows and everywhere beautiful oak trees.

Before arriving at the wall, we are forced to take a “shopping stop”. It’s an enjoyable one as it involves being held captive by foot-massaging interns. They massage our feet whilst Chinese Herbal Medicine practitioners feel our pulse and diagnose problems that can only be cured by tablets costing around $300!

The Great Wall is indeed Great and our chairlift ride to its base gives us the perfect aerial view. Stretching along a sharp ridgeline, plunging into deep ravines our eyes trace the wall remaining in this area while our brains try to compute how they built it. The terrain is so inhospitable and the structure so vast – 6500km!

The realisation that the Chinese built this wall commencing nearly 2300 years ago to (supposedly) repel invading Mongols only makes it more impressive. We spend a good 90-minutes clamouring along its spine. It’s difficult walking – steep uneven steps, crumbly rocky pavers. Darryl attempts what he can but it’s not easy.

To finish our experience Darryl takes the chairlift down while I enjoy an exhilarating ride on the toboggan. It’s extremely kitsch – a 1.7km go-cart ride down a mountain, but I absolutely loved it.

Before returning to Beijing we visit the Ming Tombs – a collection of mausoleums built approximately 1409AD. Reportedly filled with riches, most of the tombs have yet to be opened.

Its again dark when we return to our hotel – meaning we still have no idea of its immediate surrounds. Exhausted, still full from a large Chinese lunch, dinner tonight consists of fresh peaches brought from a little stall near the Ming Tombs and a packet of chocolate biscuits.

Fun facts – China is the second-largest economy in the world after the USA. The Great Wall is the largest man-made structure in the world.