I found out today that the ‘Great Wall’ is only called ‘Great’ in English. In Chinese it’s just the ‘Long Wall.’ To me though, it’s the ‘Tourist Trap Wall.’ I couldn’t believe how many people were visiting this place, and they were all Chinese too. I saw only one group of foreigners, maybe the rest were all sleeping off hangovers from the cheap beer. Anyway, I thought we would beat the crowds arriving at 7am, but to my dismay, an army of tour buses awaited us.
Every tour leader had a little colored flag and they organized us into a neat single file line to go through security. I chuckled as I read the entrance sign, no plastic explosives or hand grenades. Ahh bummer.
In we went, or waddled I should say, it was shoulder-to-shoulder getting up the first flight of stairs. I need to learn, “excuse me” in Chinese. It wasn’t the huge crowds that bothered me most. Every 50 meters there is a little shack selling souvenirs and other junky items. The vendors yell at you as you walk by, “You want T’Shirt ?” “Hey Mr, come here, take look.” It was like battling through the seven gates of hell getting by these carts. “NO NO NO NO!”
All annoyances aside though, the wall is breathtaking. You can see for miles as the crumbly white wall extends in the horizon. It runs along the steepest mountain ridges for as far as the eye can see. The morning was crisp and clear, and for the fist time on my trip, it wasn’t blazing hot with a side of mugginess. The blue sky actually reminded me of Colorado. It was really nice to escape the hectic city and breathe in some fresh air amongst the fog-covered mountains. Ahhhh!
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