May 17: China Day 2 - The Great Wall of China

The next day we hired a taxi to drive us to and back from the Great Wall of China, which is accessible from our hotel by about an hour’s drive. It was incredible. To think that humans built that immense structure starting primarily around 200 BC is just astounding. And the fact that the Mongols were eventually able to breach the wall is even more so. We were barely able to climb it from the inside. Contrary to my original conception of the Great Wall, this particular area does not offer itself to a leisurely stroll down the predominantly flat middle-section. Rather, the interior of the wall was made up with incredibly steep stone steps that varied in height from 3 bricks high to a single worn-down brick high. It was very difficult and strenuous to climb. In addition, the weather was extreme and sporadic like I’ve never seen. One minute it was warm and sunny, the next it was overcast and drizzling. The change came literally that quickly with a spread of at least 15 degrees Fahrenheit if the sun was out or not.

We set out with an idea of following the wall all the way around in the neat triangle that this section formed, but after making it up and then down the steepest and most difficult 2/3 of the route, we decided against trying for the last section, which would likely make us late for our taxi back to the hotel.

So we got popsicles instead and found our taxi about 20 minutes earlier than the agreed-on time.

Too exhausted to try for any more sightseeing, we spent the rest of the afternoon at the hotel, my dad and sister sleeping and me working.