Great Wall of China

You can’t get to Beijing and not journey to the Great Wall and with Ingrid alongside us we knew we had to check it out. Our driver sped 90 minutes north of Beijing toward the mountains of Manchuria and dropped us at our fancy little hotel (http://www.communebythegreatwall.com/en/) at the foot of the Great Wall. The hotel’s too-cool-for-school website over-promised and under-whelmed, but the real highlight of the trip was the small private stretch of ‘Wild Wall’ that runs above the property. No admission fee, no souvenir hawkers, no busloads of tourists to jockey with, no guardrails, restrooms, or signs pointing us where to go. We had it all to ourselves.






The Wall is something like 4,000 miles long and was built over a 2,000 year span at the expense of 3 million Chinese lives, a record that puts Beijing Airport’s Terminal 3 in perspective. But I couldn’t help but to have a laugh as I stood atop one of the watchtowers and saw a commercial airliner fly overheard. Imagine standing guard in full Chinese military armor 1,000 years ago and to be atop this massive wall that you’d been told was impregnable, only to see this new flying technology pass overhead. That would be a ‘Holy Crap’ moment of realization.





Our little stretch of Wall was likely built sometime in the 1300’s and it certainly was showing its age. Much of it was in rubble although the foundation managed to remain intact in most places. Over time winds have transplanted sand and soil onto the Wall and have created a topsoil that now supports small trees and beautiful wildflowers.

It was really gorgeous, and best of all it was dead quiet. It has been a long time since I stood outdoors without any man made sounds to be heard.

Lizzie and I fully appreciated the immense historical significance of what we were seeing. Ingrid on the other hand dangled contently in the Baby Bjorn as Daddy sweated his way up and down the trail to the Wall. We were sure to take as many pictures as possible so maybe someday she can include them in her grade school essay on the Wall.