Beijing Day 2: Great Wall

Since I was a kid, I have been fascinated about history and geography. Majority of my books were atlases, maps, and travel guides. I dreamed of going to every picture of tourist destinations that I saw.  Among these is the Great Wall of China.

The Great Wall of China is one of the most famous landmarks on earth.  Surely, majority of us know that the Great Wall is a series of fortifications made of stone and bricks along the northern part of China.  Legend has it that it is the only man-made structure that can be seen on the moon.  The Great Wall is so iconic that it should not be missed by anyone planning to go to Beijing. 

The Great Wall is so huge.  You can only visit portions of it during your limited time in Beijing.  Depending on your time and budget, you can choose whether to go to Badaling, Mutianyu, or Simatai.  As it is the nearest portion in Beijing, most tourists flock Badaling.  Badaling is recommended if you have very little time to spend in see this world wonder.  On the other hand, Simatai is very far.  Go to Simatai if you have more time and if you really want to see Great Wall at its finest.

Since we have the whole day to spend, we chose to visit the Mutianyu portion of the Great Wall.  It is not as crowded as Badaling and not as far as Simatai.  We hired the services of Larry, owner of a travel agency (I will post his contact details as soon as I get it from my friend) which was recommended by one of the secretaries in our office.  We paid CNY 200 (around Php 1,200) per person for an eight hour tour of the Great Wall.  The price is not bad since it comes with a free lunch and a comfortable van.  Larry was also very friendly and speaks good English.  He even brought cakes so we can have merienda after climbing the wall.

Larry fetched us from Happy Dragon Hostel at around 8 o’clock in the morning.  It took us around 2 hours to reach Mutianyu Great Wall.  Mutianyu Great Wall is located 70 kilometers northeast of Beijing.  This section of the Great Wall is surrounded by woodland and streams. However, since we visited during winter, we never saw the woodlands and the streams, hehe.

Souvenir shop on the way to Mutianyu entrance

There are three methods of climbing to the Great Wall: a.) through a chairlift that fits 2 people; b.) through a gondola ride that fits 4 people; and c.) by hiking the 4,000+ steps that traverses the mountains.  Since it was winter and freezing cold, we chose to hike the 4000+ steps. The hike may be tedious but the weather and the winter scenery motivated us during the climb.

Just a few of the 4000+ steps to the Great Wall

Let us protect this historical wonder!

After an hour or so of hiking, we finally reached the Great Wall. We were all star-strucked.  Personally, I was awed by what I saw.  For several years, I only saw the Wall in books.  Now, I am in front of it.  I felt like was part of ancient Chinese history.  After taking several pictures, another bonus came – it SNOWED! It was my first time to see and experience snow, AMAZING! According to Larry, our tour guide, snow is considered lucky in China.  Despite the slippery floor and cold weather, we braved the Wall to explore every nook and cranny of it.  I was so happy while exploring the Great Wall.  It was a major milestone in my life, second to passing the bar exams.  I was impressed on how the Chinese were able to preserve such structure.

Our first view of the GreatWall!

You cannot resist having too many photo-ops...

The wall is really GREAT!

The wall was mine for a few minutes!

Approaching one of the watch towers...

View from the watch tower...

Two hours of walking along the wall made us tired and hungry.  We decided to go down.  There are four options in descending from the Great Wall: a.) through the chairlift; b.) through the gondola ride; c.) through the toboggan ride; and d.) by walking again.  Since it was snowing, Larry did not recommend the first, second, and third option.  So, we walked 4000+ steps again.  We never felt tired since it was snowing heavily.  As it was our first time to see and experience snow, we enjoyed every dropped of snow that fell on us and our surroundings.

I cannot help but have my pic taken while snowing...

Start of our descent...

Heavy snow when we got back to the entrance...

I will definitely go back to the Great Wall during summer so I will have a clearer picture of it.  Nevertheless, my winter experience in the Great Wall is priceless!