Does The Great Wall need "of China" after it? Is there some other great wall that we would mistake for the Great Wall of China?
Any destination proceeded with the “Great” in front of it runs the risk of overwhelming expectations and underwhelming reality. That for this attraction, the noun “Wall” follows “Great” helps to limit the expectations. There’s the Great Pyramids. The Great Barrier Reef. Then there’s The Great Wall. Pyramids. Barrier Reef. Wall. One of these does not sound as special as the other two. The greatness of the Great Wall is not defined by the walls height but rather its 13,000 mile length thus the visual expectations are again tempered. 13,000 miles of wall, or better a series of walls, is difficult to comprehend but know that America’s Appalachian Trail, the granddaddy of all walking trails, is about 2,200 miles in length. It would take three, end-to-end, round-trip walks, of the Appalachian Trail, to complete one walk of the Great Wall. A one-way walk of the Appalachian Trail takes three months, for an experienced hiker, thus it would take a year-and-a-half, at the quickest, to walk the Great Wall end-to-end.
With that in mind, it seems almost superficial and unnecessary to boast that the Great Wall can be seen from space. This Ripley’s-type anecdote seems more trivial considering the best way to experience the Great Wall isn’t from space or even overhead but rather up close walking along a remote section.
There are certain vistas that allow you to follow the Great Wall across the hill's ridge all, zigzagging, all the way to the horizon.
Any destination proceeded with the “Great” in front of it runs the risk of overwhelming expectations and underwhelming reality. That for this attraction, the noun “Wall” follows “Great” helps to limit the expectations. There’s the Great Pyramids. The Great Barrier Reef. Then there’s The Great Wall. Pyramids. Barrier Reef. Wall. One of these does not sound as special as the other two. The greatness of the Great Wall is not defined by the walls height but rather its 13,000 mile length thus the visual expectations are again tempered. 13,000 miles of wall, or better a series of walls, is difficult to comprehend but know that America’s Appalachian Trail, the granddaddy of all walking trails, is about 2,200 miles in length. It would take three, end-to-end, round-trip walks, of the Appalachian Trail, to complete one walk of the Great Wall. A one-way walk of the Appalachian Trail takes three months, for an experienced hiker, thus it would take a year-and-a-half, at the quickest, to walk the Great Wall end-to-end.
With that in mind, it seems almost superficial and unnecessary to boast that the Great Wall can be seen from space. This Ripley’s-type anecdote seems more trivial considering the best way to experience the Great Wall isn’t from space or even overhead but rather up close walking along a remote section.
There are certain vistas that allow you to follow the Great Wall across the hill's ridge all, zigzagging, all the way to the horizon.
|
|
Built and re-built at various times throughout China's history, the most current reincarnation of the Great Wall was built during the Ming Dynasty (1350s - 1650s) to defend against Mongolian nomads—the Mings added about 4,000 miles. Today the Wall is a must see attraction, however, the increase in tourist foot traffic have accelerated a deterioration that nature was slowly performing. Today, Chinese Tourism Boards are the main Great Wall construction crew in an attempt to preserve one of the country's top tourist attractions rather than protecting the citizenry against foreign invaders.
|
|
Throughout Beijing hostels and tourist agents offer tours to several sections of the Great Wall. The most popular section and closest to Beijing is Badaling. Tours to this section of the wall are the cheapest but this section is easy enough to visit on your own via an hour long public bus ride. The obvious notion—if it’s the closest section and reachable by bus, it’s going to be the section with the most crowds.
Two other section of wall options with less Chinese tourist traffic are Mutianyu and Jinshanling—both can be reached by public buses but it's a little more complicated travel itinerary than reaching Badaling and would require an early departure. Mutianyu is slightly closer to central Beijing than Jinshanling so you could sleep in a little longer. Mutianyu also has a little more commercial development. It is my impression, from online research, that the tourist companies catering towards the Chinese market more heavily to the Badaling and Mutianyu walls. Jinshanling is less developed and marketed as a "wild wall" section, meaning that it has not received as much restoration work or commercial tourism work. Sections of the Jinshanling wall have been conquered by nature, weeds seemingly are a tougher opponent than the Mongol hordes.
If time isn’t a concern, the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall is the obvious choice. I booked a guided-tour reservation through my hostel, crossed my fingers for a sunny day, and woke up early to catch a three-hour private bus ride. Jinshanling is about two hours away but driving to several hostels to pick up other tourist and traffic getting out of Beijing, my ride took three hours.
To the left is my photo of the Jinshanling Wall. To the right is my parent's photo when they went to the Mutianyu Wall. From the photo you can see that the difference is no crowds (Jinshanling Wall) to a few crowds (Mutianyu Wall), although my most of my parent's photos of Mutianyu Wall do not have any other tourists in them.
Two other section of wall options with less Chinese tourist traffic are Mutianyu and Jinshanling—both can be reached by public buses but it's a little more complicated travel itinerary than reaching Badaling and would require an early departure. Mutianyu is slightly closer to central Beijing than Jinshanling so you could sleep in a little longer. Mutianyu also has a little more commercial development. It is my impression, from online research, that the tourist companies catering towards the Chinese market more heavily to the Badaling and Mutianyu walls. Jinshanling is less developed and marketed as a "wild wall" section, meaning that it has not received as much restoration work or commercial tourism work. Sections of the Jinshanling wall have been conquered by nature, weeds seemingly are a tougher opponent than the Mongol hordes.
If time isn’t a concern, the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall is the obvious choice. I booked a guided-tour reservation through my hostel, crossed my fingers for a sunny day, and woke up early to catch a three-hour private bus ride. Jinshanling is about two hours away but driving to several hostels to pick up other tourist and traffic getting out of Beijing, my ride took three hours.
To the left is my photo of the Jinshanling Wall. To the right is my parent's photo when they went to the Mutianyu Wall. From the photo you can see that the difference is no crowds (Jinshanling Wall) to a few crowds (Mutianyu Wall), although my most of my parent's photos of Mutianyu Wall do not have any other tourists in them.
|
|
The commonality of the sections of the wall built around Beijing is that the walls were built along the top of a mountain ridge. Upon arrival you have the option of climbing to the top of the wall or avail yourself of taking a ski resort-style chair lift ride to the top of the wall—one of the guard towers serving as a discrete exit point. This may seem to commercially cheapen the experience but taking the ten minute chair lift vs. the forty minute climb provides an extra half an hour on the wall, extra distance to cover and get away from other tourists. Plus, the wall is not flat. It’s better to save your energy climbing the wall than climbing to the wall.
There was hardly anyone along the top of the wall at Jinshanling and it wasn't too much of a power walking effort before reaching sections of the wall that you have to yourself.
Certain areas of the Jinshanling were incredibly steep and under the hot sun a walk along the wall becomes a bit of a work out. The places to hide from the sun are few and far between. Fortunately, there was quite a bit of variety to walking along the wall, more than you’d think. You may think, “It’s a wall, how much different can a wall look from section to section” but Jinshanling offered variety.
There was hardly anyone along the top of the wall at Jinshanling and it wasn't too much of a power walking effort before reaching sections of the wall that you have to yourself.
Certain areas of the Jinshanling were incredibly steep and under the hot sun a walk along the wall becomes a bit of a work out. The places to hide from the sun are few and far between. Fortunately, there was quite a bit of variety to walking along the wall, more than you’d think. You may think, “It’s a wall, how much different can a wall look from section to section” but Jinshanling offered variety.
|
|
|
Some sections were crumbled - in such bad shape you needed to hop off the wall, walk along the side, then scramble back up onto the wall. Other sections had crumbled. But the vegetation covered, crumbling wall is what makes Jinshanling distinct. My parents have a few photos of Mutianyu Wall and I can tell there's been some recent cementing of wall, a putting back in place of crumbled stone. I didn't seen any evidence of wall rebuild at Jinshanling.
|
|
|
Other sections were peaks with panoramic views. The panoramic views offered some sense of the length of the wall. I just kept looking as far as I could see and the wall kept going and going. I wouldn't have been able to guess that the wall went on for 13,000 miles but I did understand the grander of the wall.
|
|
The constant theme was that every step of along the Great Wall provided a new angle or revealed a new section of wall—the wall cutting and jagging across the landscape and horizon. The scenery itself didn’t change, simply your perspective as you changed heights, rounded bends, and approached guard towers.
With most hikes, the Great Wall included, it’s not so much the hike forward, where you are heading, that’s astounding, but rather the look back to see the distance covered. A simple set to the right or the left, a little more wall in the foreground, and your view can change.
With most hikes, the Great Wall included, it’s not so much the hike forward, where you are heading, that’s astounding, but rather the look back to see the distance covered. A simple set to the right or the left, a little more wall in the foreground, and your view can change.
|
|
In total I spent about an hour-and-a-half hour walking in one direction along the wall, then turned around, and walked back along the same path (which was plenty of time). Despite taking the same route back it seemed as though I was seeing a different section of the Great Wall for the first time. No wonder it’s the Great Wall.
Unfortunately, the Jinshanling chair lift only operated in one direction so I need to walk back down the hill to where the tour bus had dropped us off. Mutianyu on the other hand has a slide you can ride down back to the base and parking lot area.
Unfortunately, the Jinshanling chair lift only operated in one direction so I need to walk back down the hill to where the tour bus had dropped us off. Mutianyu on the other hand has a slide you can ride down back to the base and parking lot area.
|
|
The group I was with had lunch at one of the restaurants at the base of the chair lift then boarded the bus back to Beijing.
For additional Great Wall photos see FLICKR ALBUM.
For additional Great Wall photos see FLICKR ALBUM.