The Great Wall . . .

Dear God, am I really standing on the Great Wall of China?  YES.I.AM.

July 20, 2015

If you had asked me in April - just three months ago - if I would visit China in this lifetime, you would have gotten a "No."  Hubby and I have other international excursions on our bucket list: Ghana, Egypt, South Africa, Australia, the Greek Islands, the Cayman Islands.   

But this opportunity to visit China came like Moses parting the Red Sea, and well, when Moses parts the Red Sea...

But let me just tell you how I got to the Great Wall of China.

First off, it's far away.  Like in a children's storybook:  "Far, far away, in another land..."  No, seriously, it's far.

It takes thirty minutes on a metro train from wherever you are in central Beijing to the West Railway Station.  Then it's a one hour bullet train.  Then it's another hour by bus; that may or may not be air-conditioned.  And when you finally get off the bus - in no man's land - you'll need to board an illegal mini-van taxi to take you up the hill to the Great Wall. 

Yeah, um, no thank you.

I splurged and got a driver and a tour guide.  I know, super fancy.  But I had my bridesmaid/BFF T-Farris in my ear, and my dear friend Victor too.

Farris (currently in Europe) said out of all the times she's been to China with her Grammy-award winning band(s), she has NEVER gone to the Great Wall; so I needed to go for the team.  

And Victor (all the way from Brazil) reminded me that I may never come back to China again.

So there you have it - big money spent to make it happen.

Super long drive passing peach groves, strawberry patches and corn fields.  My lovely tour guide talked my ear off.  I just wanted to sleep since I had to meet her at 8AM in my hotel lobby. But no such luck.

FINALLY!  Here!  And still kind of sleepy.  God bless that guide, but she talked the ENTIRE car ride.  Now I have to hike up that BIG hill behind me to get to the main gates.

S-T-E-E-P.

OMG. Are we there yet? It is 90degrees, humidity is at 70%, I'm hot and sticky, and the incline is no joke.

Nope.  Keep it moving up these stairs.

And then head up more stairs.

Here are all of the sections open to the public. I'm going take the cable car ride up to section 10, and hike to towers 10 - 14.  Good plan.

Cable Car only cost $100 RMB. That's like $20 USD.

As I am stepping in, I can't remember the last time I was in a cable car.  Maybe Disneyland as as a kid??

Off I go!!!!  The blue text says "Michelle Obama, wife of the American President rode the car to climb the Great Wall on March 23, 2014."  If Michelle can do it, me too!

WOW!! That's the view behind me.

Landed.  But the Great Wall is up these steps.

Oh.My. ----  I have no words...

The view is spectacular from every direction. And it's so very peaceful and quiet.

According to historical data, the labor force to build the Great Wall was made up of three groups: soldiers, common people and criminals.  The wall was started in 221 B.C. and was finished in 589 A.D.

It was a big burden for ordinary people to build this. Sometimes, all the men in the nation were forced to construct. For instance, during the Wei-Jin and Southern-Northern dynasties (around 265-589), even children had to join in. As a result, no men were engaged in farming and women were frightened to have a boy. Also the Great Wall construction led to a large number of deaths and injuries. For those who lost sons or husbands, life would become much harder.

Sitting for a moment to take in the magnitude of this experience.

These are some pretty old stones.

I headed to the first watch tower. In this particular one you can sign your name.

People from around the world have made their mark :-)

Coming out the other side.

This father and daughter were so cute.  They came to the Great Wall to have a picnic lunch.

 

Further along, a bride and groom were there with a glam squad taking wedding pictures.

Each watch tower is different.

 

A crazy dare devil!

The wall goes on and on and on... all the way up that mountain.  I could see people hiking the hill.

I wrote a prayer for me and my hubby and slid it into a crack into the Great Wall of China.

Me n' hubby are up in there! :-) I wonder how long before somebody finds it?  Maybe never!!!

After 2 hours of hiking and soaking up the glorious beauty, I was ready to leave and go back to reality.  You should have seen me getting down these steps.  I looked like an old lady holding on for dear life. Ha! 

Cable Car back down the hill.

Felt like a roller coaster.

Here is a video on the way down. 

Bye Great Wall.  Nice to meet you.

"In each of us are places where we have never gone.  Only by pressing the limits do you ever find them." -Dr. Joyce Brothers

~SS