To the window, to the Wall!
Had an earlier start than we’ve had for a while, 8am! Shocking. We got all our gear ready and headed out for breakfast. Needless to say, Baozi was coming our way. As we ate breakfast, we walked towards the bus stop which would take us near to the coach terminal. The coach in question would be taking us to the Great Wall of China. Arguably the most famous landmark of China’s, it was safe to say I was looking forward to witnessing the sheer extent of the Great Wall of China.
The coach itself only cost ¥12. The coach would take us around 70km, for a mere £1. The prices still bedazzle me to this day. After forking out ¥12, we spent a couple of hours on the coach, admiring the scenery as we snaked through the mountains. I got a short nap. As the first glimpses of the Great Wall of China came into view, all of a sudden, there was a subtle buzz on the coach. Everyone was getting pretty excited about it. We arrived at around 11am. For more info on the Great Wall of China, click here.
Ascending to Great heights
When the bus arrived everyone got off and dispersed. There are loads of shops with gifts and foods long before the entrance. It started to rain a bit so we headed inside a building that took us to the entrance. Mat and I were only wearing hoodies and shorts, so a little ill prepared for the weather we faced. We got our tickets and made our way up to the wall. When you’re on the wall itself, it doesn’t seem anything special. In fact it’s quite similar to the wall I climbed in the Ancient Town of Qingyan (click here to check out that visit).
You only realise and appreciate how gargantuan this feat of construction is when you look over the side. The entire region is mountainous, and I was able to see the Great Wall of China snaking in every direction. Up and down, left and right. Disappearing in a dip before rising higher than before. Then splitting at a junction to go multiple different ways. It really was astonishing, and this was just a tiny portion of the whole structure.
Slippery when wet
At some points the wall got quite steep. Sometimes there were steps, other times the wall was just a slope of cobbled stones. These stones were quite slippery when wet, and as it was raining, they were very wet. People were treading carefully, and you could almost hear the concentration emanating from some people. A couple of people slipped, but nothing major. Smiles all round! We had gone to the Badaling section of the Great Wall. This was the closest section to Beijing, but also the most popular. I would have liked to go to a more obscure section, but time was not on our side and we had to settle for this section.
With regards to the Badaling section of the Great Wall of China, there is only 1 or 2 miles of accessible wall to walk on. Despite walking at a leisurely pace, and taking in the scenery, it only took an hour or 2 to get to the end of the North section. The end section of the wall was absolutely packed. Many people were on the steps at the end taking photos and videos. Mat and I stood on the steps and had a horde of tourists wanting pictures with, and of, us. Some also wanted videos, some seemed to be almost fighting to get with us. We accommodated as many people’s requests as we could before we jetted out of there. I’m not ready for stardom and the paparazzi that comes with it!
Our encounter with bears at the wall
We didn’t walk back on ourselves and go back the way we came. Instead we took some steps down the wall which took us onto a different branch of the wall. As it wasn’t the same wall we came on, we decided to go with it so we could see more sights. This wall was less busy but also had some very steep sections. Towards the end of this section, we were actually the only ones around. Both of us took a few minutes to take a breather, and just admire the scenery and the snaking wall.
We finally descended the wall which brought us to a small village, selling gifts and food. Mat bought a fridge magnet (his fridge at home is quaking under the weight of all the current magnets). What was very random was a couple of black bear (Sun bears to be precise) enclosures, and people throwing food to them. It seemed a very obscure place to have the bears here. Animal welfare isn’t in its pinnacle state here, so it seemed a rather glum existence unfortunately. After feeling sorry for them we moved on and ended up back at the entrance. We then waited for our coach back to Beijing.
Back to the capital
The coach took a while to arrive, and there are quite a few buses that look the same but with different numbers. In the end we just hoped the one we got on was correct (thankfully it was). When we were back in Beijing, we took a bus back to the hostel. We chilled for a while after an exhausting day before heading out again. Some Chinese girls on the bus told us there was a place nearby that did Shredded Duck Pancakes. Mat was hell-bent on having some, so I happily obliged. They were rather small, but I can’t say they weren’t delicious.
To finish off the night, we bought some more signature cream profiteroles from the bakery. These would never get old if I lived here.
Extras
