Journal Entry #35: Thursday, June 17, 2010

Breakfast was great!  The Park Plaza Hotel caters to Americans and other foreigners very well.  While they had some traditional Chinese offerings for breakfast they always had plenty of the kinds of foods that we and other non-Chinese folks were used to for breakfast. ​

Today was a day that every tourist looks forward to when they come to China. Climbing the Great Wall was on our agenda for the day.  According to some information I found on the Internet, the Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguann on the east to Nur Inner on the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. The most comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has recently concluded that the entire Great Wall, with all of its branches, stretches for 8,851.8 km (5,500.3 miles). This is made up of 6,259.6 km (3,889.5 mi) of 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.


There are several locations from which a visitor could start their trek.  The location of the site where we were to enter the wall was about a 90-minute drive away from Beijing where we were staying.  We were originally planning on taking a tour bus to the location but Tina wanted to go with us and we certainly wanted her to go with us as well.  Her Dad arranged for her uncle to drive us there in one of her Dad’s company cars. Tina and her Uncle met us at about 7:30 in the morning to drive us to the Great Wall.  Traffic was heavy in Beijing but he got off the beaten path and amazingly found his way there rather quickly. After he dropped us off I realized that he was not going to join us but rather wait in the car until we returned.  When I mentioned that might be a few hours, Tina responded by saying, “That’s OK, he works for my Dad.”


The Great Wall was quite a climb.  I am not a good climber or hiker.  For the past few years I have tried, with much failure, to walk more, but my knees get sore quickly.  I was determined that I may only be at the Great Wall of China once in my life, and I was not going to look back on this and say, “I couldn’t do it!”  The walk was as advertised, lots of stairs, lots of climbing.  It was raining when we arrived but what we were supposed to do?  Come back another day?  No, we just pulled out our umbrellas and started walking, climbing steps and taking pictures while we ascended the wall.  The scenery and views were stunningly beautiful.  As the rain slowed and the fog descended it became very surreal.  The mountaintops were now enveloped in fog and there was a calm sense of the presence of God and nature all about us.


The low-grade hum and murmur of people talking, laughing and visiting with each other was thick.  People from all around the world coming and going in both directions were encouraging each other to keep on, that it was worth the experience.  Even though there were some organized groups on site, most of the people were individual couples and families from all over the world.  As you know, I am not shy, and often said hello to as many people as I could.  I was able to use my limited array of French and Chinese along with my English.  We met people from the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Vietnam, Thailand, and South America, and, of course, people from all over China.  I realized once again, how cool it is to have a little foreign linguistic skill when you’re away from home.  I was always quick to say, “Ni Hao!  Ni Hao Ma?” especially to the Chinese children.  As soon as most people saw that I wanted to speak with their children they opened up to me very quickly.  Many of the Chinese children speak better English than their parents do.  Most parents in China welcome the opportunity for their children to speak in English to someone whose first language is not Chinese.  I also had a lot of requests for people wanting to get a photo made with their child and me.  Of course, I obliged.


I wish I had started counting steps when I started the climb, but I did not, and I wasn’t about to go back to start over.  I saw several sites way up in the sky along the wall and decided that if I could walk to that point then I would have succeeded.  I actually walked to a couple of points beyond those original destinations of success.  I don’t even know how long we walked before I claimed victory in conquering this once in a lifetime event.  It was really thrilling!  Donna and Tina are younger and healthier than I and they walked about 30-40 minutes beyond where I had decided to turn back.  I waited patiently for them to return as I talked and visited with the many fascinating people who came my way.


All along the way there were plenty of stopping stations where you could purchase drinks, refreshments, souvenirs, and of course, T-Shirts that said, “I Climbed the Great Wall.”  And, on Thursday, June 17, in the 2010 year of our Lord, I did indeed climb the Great Wall of China!  I wasn’t even close to the top but I was high enough to look down on the clouds!  As I raised my arms in victory and yelled, I thought, “Now if only the Cubs could win the World Series this year, or even sometime in my lifetime!”


The trip down the steps and the wall was a lot harder than I thought it would be.  I recall on my way up, saying something to those around me like, “At least the trip down will be easier.”  The voice of a very tired man about my age, maybe older, responded by saying, “No, It’s harder coming down than going up!”  I thought that couldn’t be right. Can it? The steps were steep and because of the rain many of the steps were slick.  The weight and pressure on my knees seemed to get heavier and more painful as I descended downward. I think I used the handrails more on the way down than on the way up.  By now the rain had stopped completely and the umbrella was being put to better use as a walking stick and support leg than it had as a rain shield.  As we arrived at the base I looked back with disbelief as to what we had just experienced.  I took lots of photos.  The skies were not blue but the images are no less stunning.  As a pseudo-journalist, I realized that I had recorded, in my mind and in digital photos, what I had just experienced, blue skies or gray.  It was awesome!


Once back at the Great Wall’s bottom starting point we rested, got some snack foods, shopped the souvenir shops, and took more photos.  Once rested sufficiently, we headed back to Beijing looking for a place to stop for a late lunch along the way.
 
We stopped for lunch at what I found out was a chain restaurant that was much like a Red Lobster, as many locations of this eatery were all over China.  The food was very good and we were able to make our selections from photos and Tina’s help.  We got to our room earlier than we had the previous few days and had no plans to go out again for the evening.