WRITTEN ON August 25th, 2009 BY kiwivera AND STORED IN china, travelling

Tags: beijing, china, photography, simatai, the great wall of china, travel

The first visit to the Great Wall took us to the Badaling section, on our very first day. We flew for nearly 15 hours to get there, dropped our bags at the hotel and headed to the bus station to find the bus that would take us to Badaling. It was Sunday and the busiest section of the wall was even busier. So much that a line of buses was clogging up the road and we had to get off 2km away from the car park and walk the rest of the way. When we got there, there was a mix of “yay-we-did-it” and a hint of disappointment: Badaling was reconstructed in recent years and, although you still feel that you’re in a truly historic place, I couldn’t help feeling a little cheated. Plus, it was the first day in Beijing and I wasn’t expecting quite that level of smog in the air - I was so looking forward to seeing the wall disappear in the horizon and, well, I could barely see who was walking 10 metres away from me.

But then, a few days later, the Great Wall of China redeemed itself when we visited Simatai. Mr Pei, a lovely chinese man recommended by ana, drove us 120km to this section of the wall. as we walked on it, we kept reminding each other of where we were, as if forgetting it was possible. We were incredibly lucky because the rain that had fallen the night before had washed away the smog and we got to finally see the wall disappear far in the distance, right under a beautiful blue sky.

we did what you do when you’re on the great wall of china: we walked, walked, walked and then we walked some more. This section of the wall is known for being steep (and in some areas dangerous). It is also famous for being one the best preserved portion of the Great Wall, built during the Ming Dinasty. It’s also not nearly as touristy as Badaling.

When we started returning to the car park to meet up with Mr Pei again and return to Beijing, we remembered the map at the entrance showing a zipline across the river. when you walk for that many hours under that inglorious sun, with your backpack hurting your sunburnt shoulder at each step, the idea of walking some more sounds a lot more adventurous than sliding across the river in a dodgy zipline. So off I went.

when i was still looking up stuff about beijing before the trip, I was sure that the great wall would be the absolute highlight. I was right.

bear with me while I catch up on my reports about the middle kingdom. I’ll get back to moan talk about kiwiland soon, promise!