Ginger's Blog of Miscellany: The Great Wall of China

May 1, 2011

May 1^st is a big labor holiday in China. Many people have the day off, or even several days in a row or the week off. Chinese tourists crowd the roadways and all the major tourist sites. Travel can be difficult and everything is crowded but there is also a festive feeling in the air, as it seems all of China comes out to play. The staff at our hostel (the wonderful Drum Tower Youth Hostel) suggested we visit the Great Wall on May Day – it would be crowded, but perhaps less crowded than some of the other tourist sites like the Forbidden City. We signed up for a tour leaving at 8am Sunday morning that would take us to a less touristy section of the Wall: the bus, admission to the Wall, and lunch were all included in the price.

Our bus was filled with foreign tourists – many Europeans but also a couple of Americans we met in the lobby of our hostel the night before. It was a 2.5-3 hour drive to the Wall. I think it took longer than usual due to the holiday traffic. We went to a section of the Wall that was a little off the beaten trail. We were excited to be at 1) a less-crowded section, and 2) a section that included both reconstructed and unreconstructed sections of the Wall.

Our tour guide was thankfully pretty hands off. He gathered us up, told some of the history of the Wall, answered a few questions, and finished with the claim that it was the “greatest manmade structure of all time” or something like that. (Although I respectfully disagreed with the claim – much of the Wall isn’t even that old (while it was started a couple thousand years ago, some sections are only a few hundred years old), much of it is falling down, it wasn’t very tall, and it was also ineffective at keeping out invaders – I did manage to not say so out loud.) He then told us to walk as far as we wanted, and to be back in 3 hours.

Despite it not being the "greatest manmade structure of all time," the Wall was impressive and the views were amazing. It follows a natural ridgeline, so you have a panoramic view of everything.

It was disappointing there was still smog in the air, even though we were many miles from the city.

It was also disappointing there was smog in the air because it contributed to my first asthma attack in years. To be fair, I’m also not in hiking shape, and this was a strenuous hike. I’m not sure why I pictured an initial steep walk up a mountain but then for the Wall itself to be relatively flat… it wasn’t, of course. Since I have a history of asthma problems and China is infamously polluted, I had a brand-new albuterol inhaler. In my suitcase, in the room, back in Beijing. Once the shortness of breath transitioned from I’m-just-out-of-shape into the old familiar chest tightness that asthmatics know all too well, I knew I had to take it easy. I managed to stroll and take a few steps at a time to go quite a ways, but I had to let Ashley and Megan go on ahead, while I experienced the Great Wall of China like an old person. Or an asthmatic without an inhaler. Anyway, it was beautiful and amazing and it taught me to actually carry my first aid supplies with me, in case I needed first aid, you know.

After the hike, our group had a delicious lunch at a local restaurant before heading back to Beijing. We watched South Park cartoons on the bus TV the whole ride back.