The Great Wall of China!

The Great Wall of China! This has been on my bucket list for years and I was thrilled to be able to check it off! I was not going home without seeing China! And the Great Wall, to me, has always = China! A quote I found in a book states, "If you haven't seen the Wall, you haven't seen China!" I was scheduled to fly back home on August 23rd, but I decided to call the travel agent to find out how much it would cost me to delay my flight a day. She quoted me $250.00 USD, which I decided was worth it, and I paid it! After I made that decision, I suddenly became very nervous and scared. I actually trembled and couldn't get to sleep that night. I knew a friend from the mission was also staying a few extra days, but I was afraid he would leave in the morning without me being able to tell him I was staying an extra day and then I would be in Beijing, CHINA, all by myself, and that scared me. I remembered him saying before we headed to our hotel rooms that he was sleeping in, so I knew I would be able to catch him. I set my alarm for 8am, showered, got ready, and went down to his room. I knocked on his door, heard him stumble to the door, and finally he cracked it open. "Hi Marco!" I had to quickly get in why I was at his door at 8:45am. He was excited to hear I was staying as well and told me he had set up to meet our friend Iona in the lobby at 10am. I walked back to my room and laid down til 9:45am and then headed to the lobby at 10. I didn't know what they had planned to do, but I was hoping it was the Wall! I met Marco downstairs, but no Iona. We actually had to call her at home, she was so tired, she slept in. She arrived around 11am and we discussed possible ideas. I told them of my strong desire to see the Great Wall on my only day there. Marco was going to still be in Beijing for another few days after I left so I was hoping he'd be flexible and go to the wall with me. Iona works at the Marriott Hotel we were staying at, so she talked to one of the receptionist, and came back to report that they were calling a car for us to rent for $600 Yuan and he would drive us there and back. SWEET deal! I was so excited, it was really happening! Marco was okay with changing his plans to see the Forbidden City and travel to the Wall with me instead. Iona also came along, which was nice, to have a Chinese tour guide, as well as a translator!

This picture and the one above are actually one in the same! Can you tell? The picture above is one I took at the Wall. It was a very misty, hazy day. It rained while we were on the Wall! Yet the top picture, one in the same, was obviously taken on a beautiful day! I loved just gazing at the Wall and thinking, "wow I'm really here...I'm at the Great Wall of China"! It always feels so surreal when you're at a place that you've only seen in pictures or movies and thought I'll never go there! I also loved how the Wall winds its way across the mountain ranges like an endless, slender dragon! The Wall, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups. The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east, to Lop Lake in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. The most comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has concluded that the entire Great Wall, with all of its branches, stretches for 8,851.8 km (5,500.3 mi). This is made up of 6,259.6 km (3,889.5 mi) sections of actual wall, 359.7 km (223.5 mi) of trenches and 2,232.5 km (1,387.2 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers.

China and two flags representing the Great Wall at Mutianyu, China. Mutianyu, located 55 miles north of Beijing, is far less touristy than other sections of the Great Wall. I was grateful Iona was taking us to this section vs another. There were cable cars to take tourists to the top, but we choose the 1,000 step path to the wall itself. I bought a shirt that states, "I climbed The Great Wall of China." And we did! Yet the best part, besides experiencing the Wall itself, was riding the Alpine slides to the bottom. What a blast!

A sign describing The Great Wall - at Mutianyu.

A woman selling art, shirts, chopsticks, dolls, and fans to the tourists and visitors!

Stairway to Heaven! It felt like it, but this is where we earned half of our shirt, "I climbed The Great Wall". The other half was earned on the wall itself, there are some serious inclines and stairs on the Wall.

The Great Wall! Literally, a wall, when standing below. I believe this wall did its job of keeping enemies out!

Stairs leading to the entrance of The Great Wall!

Looking out on the Wall from one of the windows in a watchtower!

The Great Wall! A couple sitting down, enjoying the vista!

This is a section of stairs we encountered after coming out of one watchtower. I was surprised to see how steep they were as we climbed to the next section of the wall to walk.

This stairway out of a watchtower was very interesting, the bricks have sunk in certain areas over the years. I wonder if it was one flat upward path years ago and the sunken areas have now allowed foot holes or if there were always foot holes but now disguised by the sunken bricks? Intriguing!

Iona told Marco and I, the mortar used to build the Great Wall consisted of sticky rice. True! It's a fact on a website, "slaked lime, the customary ingredient in mortar, was combined with the rice to form a bond so tight that now, 600 years later, weeds still cannot grow between the bricks in many places! The usage of this substance has since been proclaimed one of the greatest technical innovations of the time. The sticky rice helped several important Ming Dynasty relics (tombs, walls, pagodas) survive natural disasters and has helped preserve the Great Wall to this day!

This cute little boy told his mom he wanted a picture with Marco and I! She walked over to us, asked us if her little boy could have a picture. We were surprised but said yes, I was flattered! I am white...and tall! She gave her camera to Iona and joined in. I couldn't help it, I had to have a copy, so I also gave Iona my camera! I love her hair and her animal print outfit, so stylish! :)

I was also surprised to see canons on the wall. I figured they shot bows and arrows but didn't think about canons!

We climbed up the steep part of the wall on the left and to that watchtower, #14. I couldn't stop taking pictures, after every turn, there was a new element of the Wall I wanted to capture and take home!

Okay, hilarious, right? I saw this guy and couldn't help it but ask him if I could take his picture! I don't know if he understood me, but he sure did a great job posing!

The sign directing us to the slide! Slideway, as they call it!

The Slideway! I made the wise choice and put my SLR camera away before the ride down, yet I also made the mistake of letting Iona go first. She had never rode a slide like this before and as such, she had the brake on the whole way down. I flew down and had to slam on my brakes so I wouldn't rear end her. I would stop periodically and then allow myself to fly before I caught up to her again. Marco was behind me doing the same once he saw how slow she was going. We had a blast!