Beijing: Great Wall

27th August 2009
BEIJING: HANDS DOWN, BEST WALL I EVER SAW

On our last day we went to the ultimate of Chinese attractions – The Great Wall. We wanted to see a section where it had been restored and also a knackered, untouched section. Bobby from our hostel was as good as his word and drove us personally, for a fee of £70. This was for a private air conditioned car and personal tour, so we were happy to pay. It is £30+ each for a non private tour on a bus, so it was a good commercial decision.

Bobby also brought along a young cross-eyed girl called Yan who worked at our hostel, with whom I think he was having an affair. Yan was very nice and took photos for us. On the outbound leg, we slept in the back seat for about 2 hours as we drove out of Beijing. We were delivered to a section of the Wall called Mutianyu. It was gorgeous and there were hardly any tourists there at all, we maybe saw 25-30 the whole time. We managed to get numerous photos without anyone else in the shot and the majority of the time we were completely alone.

You reached the wall by cable car. We had planned to just go up and come back down again, to save time, so we could spend longer at the other un-restored section of wall. However, once we were up there it seemed a waste not to walk it, so despite Lizzie’s upside down smile, off we went. It was mostly downhill and the weather was in our favour – not too hot, mostly cloudy – so it was really enjoyable.

Mutianyu Wall is in Huairou County, about 50 miles out of Beijing. This section of wall has a long history and it connects Juyongyuan Pass in the west and Gubeikou Great Wall in the east. The wall was first built in Northern Qi Dynasty (550 – 557AD). In the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644), Tan Lun and Qi Jiguang, two famous generals, rebuilt this section of wall in order to strengthen its defensive potential. It served as the northern protective screen, guarding the Capital against attack for generations.

Mutianyu Great Wall winds 1.4 miles through mountains and high ridges, many sections are made of granite, such as the floor. The floor is actually made of very low gradient stairs, making it easy for walking; even the uphill sections weren’t very taxing. The Wall itself measures aprox 25 feet high and 15 feet wide. Both of the wall’s inner and outer sides have parapets to defend against enemies. Some parapets are saw-tooth shaped instead of the traditional rectangular form and are not seen in many other places on the entire wall.

There are 22 watch towers distributed at close intervals along the wall, so we were able to walk through those too. They are located not only on the main Wall but also branch out from the main Wall, on little walkways knows as ‘branch cities’. We walked to one and got some excellent undisturbed pictures.

Besides its strategically important location and compact layout, the Mutianyu Great Wall is also famous for the amazing scenery. Dense woods cover over 96% of the total area and it really was quite amazing to stand there and take it all in. It is a marvellous feat of the Chinese to have built something quite so amazing… and for them not to have torn it down to build a block of 1970’s industrial flats.

At the end of the Mutianyu Wall, you could choose to go back down to the ground via a ski lift or…. a toboggan! China really does excel itself at times, I was thoroughly impressed. For about 10 mins you can wind your way down the wooded mountain-side on a toboggan with wheels in a big, open-top, silver tube.

Unfortunately, much to my disappointment, they closed the slide (named SPEED) just as we arrived as it had started to rain. Apparently this makes it too dangerous. I was amazed that China would be aware of such safety issues and was left bereft. How many people can say they have walked the Great Wall and come down from it on a bob-sleigh like Cool Runnings!

After this section, we asked to get some lunch. Bobby drove us to a small nearby town and picked a local restaurant for us. Both Bobby and Yan joined us and together we chose a selection of food we could all share – bbq spicy lamb on a bed of coriander, beef and red peppers, chicken with cashew nuts, some horrible tofu (Bobby’s choice) and of course, the obligatory rice. Over all it was delicious and cost about £2 each, it would be amazing if you could get that much food for that price at home… and for a change it was pretty tasty too!

After lunch Bobby drove us to the un-restored section. I’m glad we had taken the chance to visit the restored section, as you wouldn’t have quite got the same sensations from walking along the un-restored part, it was basically a bit of rock with no sides. The local farmers have mostly pilfered the stone for their own lodgings.

We stayed for about an hour, climbing between two of the towers and taking in the scenery. The sun had come out and the temperature was now blazing, so we were not going to be ambitious and climb to the third tower which was atop of China’s equivalent of Snowdonia. After saying goodbye to China and the Wall, we headed back to the car for our final journey back to Beijing.

Bobby dropped us near a market for our last evening and we had a mad dash buying the last few things we wanted, bags mostly! We finished the day off with a traditional dish: Peking Duck. Surprisingly, the most challenging dish to find in the whole of Peking. We walked down back alleys in the pitch black, attempted to get directions from locals and stopped in every restaurant we saw to ask if they did Peking Duck. Finally we found a little restaurant that specialised in the dish. I think we actually preferred England’s version, as it is crispier with less fat, but when in Peking you must have the duck!

It has been a marvellous last few days in Beijing and China has totally redeemed itself. The Great Wall and Forbidden City, along with Beijing’s other delights have ensured our final days in China were unforgettable. Like a true Brit, I have bitched about everything and for the majority of the time, this is completely warranted in China. However, the things we have seen and experienced, good and bad, have made us have the best 6 weeks we could have hoped for – although the mid holiday to Thailand definitely helped!

China has been hard going a lot of the time. The food, the language barrier, cultural differences and the massive amount of travel required between one place to the next has, at times, taken its toll. It was almost as far removed as a place can be, from the one that was in my head. However, we have made the most of our time here and travelled almost the length and breadth of the country to see the best of what China has to offer, and it does have some wonderful things to offer.

We have achieved so much and seen so many amazing things that we could never have experienced if we had not come here and stuck it out: the nomads, the lakes at Juizhaigou, being one of the first to visit the newly reopened Labrang Monastery, the Great Wall, the pandas, the Forbidden City, the trekking, the rafting and hot air ballooning, the play on the water, the views in Hong Kong and all the delights of Beijing really have made this an incredible experience.