Scaling the Wall

After close to three years of living in China and more than a dozen visits to Beijing, I finally made it round to the Wall.

I chose a really great time. The beginning of August. The absolute height of summer in Beijing. When I was shuttled over from the Brickyard Retreat to the base of the wall in Mutianyu, the thermometer had already pushed past 100 degrees. Safe to say this is not the ideal temperature for a long hike up and down the endless staircases of the Great Wall of China. And it is a hike. After a gondola transports you to the top, you have two options. The long way down and up this direction and the long way down and up that direction. I first turned right, moseyed down 100 or so stairs, snapping photos along the way before opting to turn around. The way forward didn’t look promising. Perhaps the other way would offer the endless views I’d seen in pictures.

The other direction did indeed provide better vistas, but you must remember this is not far from Beijing. It’s not often very clear. I’ve been in Beijing dozen of times now and I’ve still only encountered blue skies on one occasion. Still, the Wall is impressive even in a mix of murky humidity and smog. I don’t know how far I walked or how many stairs I stepped on, but it was both a lot and not enough. I could have gone on forever in wonder at the sheer audacity of this ancient fortification laid out before me endlessly. But it proved too hot to trudge too far from my starting place for it too was where I had to get back to make my return to the foothills below.