To the Wall Once More

One of the items on the list of our latest guests was to get on the Great Wall of China. Since JCS had not been, and I really wanted another experience of the wall, we all agreed that we would make a point of going there for a day. We hired a guide and driver, and they picked us up at the hotel in Beijing and took us to the Wall.

We opted to start at the Jingshanling section of the wall and hike to the Simatai a good ten kilometers later. Early on Wednesday, Cheney (our guide) arrived with a van and driver. Armed with lunches, water, sunscreen and hats. Two hours later, we arrived at Jinshanling, and after a short walk through the parking lot and up a small trail, we arrived on the wall. Cheney took the opportunity to explain to us which side of the wall was the inside and lots of other facts about the wall.


The Jinshanling section of the Great Wall is said to be the best preserved of a wall that winds up and down across deserts, grasslands, mountains and plateaus, stretching approximately 6,700 kilometers (4,163 miles ) from east to west of China. It has a history of more than 2000 years. Here is some information on the Jinshanling section:

"Based on huge stone bars, the Great Wall was then [in the period for this segment of the wall]made by huge bricks, each of which weighed about 12 kilograms (26 pounds). It has five main passes and 67 watchtowers. Every 100 meters (328 feet), there is an enemy tower each of which is about ten meters (33 feet) high. Featuring various structures and having various functions, those watchtowers are either one tiered or two-tiered. On the first floor there are some windows for shooting arrows. The roofs of the towers are many and varied, flat, arched, quadrangular or octagonal. Some are used to store weapons and hay. Others are used as soldiers' bedrooms. Among them, the most celebrated are the Big and Small Jinshan Watchtowers."

There is an incredible amount of information on the web about the history and facts about the wall. If you go , and navigate arouhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifnd, I am sure that you can find what is of interest to you. I'm told that one of the most recent issues of Canadian Geographic also has an excellent article on the subject.

It took us nearly four hours to complete this hike. Although it might seem like a long time to complete such a short distance, the wall is not an even piece of road. It rises steeply in parts and descends sharply in others. It ended up being a magnificently sunny day and an enchanting experience. It is truly hard to believe that it is possible to touch something that is that old and that significant with almost no effort.