A Trek Through China's Magnificient Creation...

Before leaving Canada, we had booked another tour through Imaginative Traveller for our trip through China as per our travel agents recommendation (we're crossing our fingers that this one actually takes place this time). Our trip, The Great China Adventure, was to be a three week trip through China starting in Beijing and ending in Hong Kong with ten stops at various cities in between.

On the evening of the 17th, we met our tour leader, Jess, a very informative and helpful young lady from England along with the rest of the group which consisted of 14 people in total including the two of us. The members of our tour came from all over the world: 2 from New Zealand – Katherine and Brett, 1 from Australia who is currently living in England – Chris, 7 from England – Naomi, Adam, Tom, Fiona, Joanne, Emily, Richard, 1 from Edmonton – Darren and the last one from New York – Liz. The average age of the group is around 30 with some as young as 18 and 19. It appears that a majority of the tour members have done some extensive travelling in the past or are currently in the midst of their travels.

After meeting everyone and getting some information to Jess, we all headed to bed as we were to be awoken by a friendly wake up call by Jess at 5:30am so we could start our day’s adventure on the Great Wall. Although 5:30am seemed WAY TOO early to start the day, the both of us were very excited as one of the highlights of our trip that we had been waiting for was about to take place.

With sore feet and half open eyes, we boarded a bus at dawn for a 2 ½ hour bus ride to Jinshanlin to climb a section of the great wall (10 km of the 6,500km). We both were too tired from the previous two days of solid walking around Beijing to notice the mist that was in the air. The mist must of accompanied us from Beijing as when we got to Jinshanlin it was still there, hiding the longest man made structure in the world as seen from space.

As we started our ascent to the entrance to the Great Wall we were met by some local farmers from nearby villages. There we learnt that their goal was to be our personal tour guides to help us maneuver through the wall, with the hopes of selling something at the end of the 10 km journey. These farmers have now resorted to becoming tour guides with their few broken words in English because of the lack of rain in the region so farming was no longer a way to earn a living. They ranged in all ages (a girl who could not have been more than 16 and a man who must have been in his late sixties), in all sizes (some were slender, some were round, and some were even shorter than I) but all wearing unusual footwear for hiking (heels, dress shoes, sandles).

There was a period of uneasiness as they all jockeyed for position around our group, all frantically sizing up the herd as if to sniff out the weakest member. Well that surely wasn’t going to happen to us, no way! We were well seasoned globe trotters by now, with over priced hiking boots, come on this will be a piece of cake for us. After the dust had finally settled, both Rav and I walked side by side… with our tour guide.

As we ventured towards the Great Wall, the mist started to subside to reveal the path leading to the entrance, it was a overwhelming feeling of awe and disbelief, for only in a few moments we would be on the Great Wall of China, with its rich history, its architectural presence within the landscape, and its meaning for its people. As the group gathered at the starting tower to discuss the day, I felt like I was in a dream. The vastness of Mongolia to the north and China to the South, and in both directions east and west the wall stood, hiding in the slowly moving mist. It was an indescribable feeling of grandeur, greatness and beauty all in one. We were both elated by the fact that we were walking the Great Wall of China, and the best part of it all was that there were only a couple of other tourists on this section of the wall besides our group. At certain points it appeared that we were the only two on the wall sometimes as we took our time climbing it and stayed a bit farther back from the group to be able to enjoy all it had to offer and to just soak it in. As we moved through we would discover different views of the wall, each with its own characteristics and points of interest. Unfortunately, the mist lingered on all day and we were unable to see the true extent of the Great Wall with our eyes.

Although some sections of the great wall have been rebuilt many times throughout the various dynasties, some sections are is a great state of disrepair. It is a stunning testament to the power of the dynasties which were involved in building this remarkable wall. The construction of the wall was from local dirt straw and goose berry, stamped with human feet and stacked with stones. It was ineffective as a barrier for protecting China from the Mongolians, but it was instrumental in the transfer of goods and information for commerce between the Europe and the Orient.

Thus far on our trip, this has been the best thing we have done and would do it again in a minute. This is an experience that you all must do in this life time. Between the two of us we took over 300 photographs and we have not been able to edit them all thus far. This definitely has our vote as one of the next wonders of the world! Enjoy the pictures below and judge for yourself….