The Perch

On my first visit to the Great Wall at Mutianyu, I hiked as far as I could up the mountain with the time I was given by the tour guide (not nearly enough time). As I walked up the higher reaches of the wall where few tourists ventured, I came across some kids enjoying their time on the wall.

Window to a Wall

My favorite part of my first trip to the Great Wall was the quiet--once I got past the third signal tower at Mutianyu, the crowd thinned out. The cool wind blowing through the mountains was a welcome relief from the choking heat and humidity of Beijing in August.

Inside the signal towers, I let my sweaty shirt dry as I caught my breath. And during those breaks I was able to meet a few friendly Mainland tourists who spoke just enough English to match my Chinese ability at the time. It was a more difficult hike, but much more enjoyable than the following year when I visited the Badaling tourist trap.

More of the Wall

First I'll apologize for the layout of this post. Due to the censoring of Blogger by the Great Firewall of China, it's difficult to format photos and text to make posts aesthetically pleasing. Now, on with the post.

Last year we took our trip to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. This year I chose to hike Badaling even though it is the most tourist-traveled section. I decided this would be best for my parents because it would be easier to walk. It was certainly easier than Mutianyu, but it wasn't all that easy--especially once you get past the hordes of people. (Last year's Wall hike)


It was a long line just to get onto the wall--we probably waited about 15 minutes to get tickets and another 15 to get through the gate. But we pushed our way forward. We stared to the right and saw swarms of tourists flooding the way. It didn't look like the previous year with the crowds turning back after the third tower; these people kept going (take a close look at the photo above for proof). Obviously, we decided to head south instead. It was still crowded to the south, but the crowd broke much sooner than the north way.

The day was good--not too hazy and not too hot. My brother and I split from our parents so that we could go at our own pace. We allotted almost three hours to the hike. We managed to go as far as the government allowed:


We took a long rest at this point. The strangest moment came as we rested--a vendor scaled the wall and produced some cheap merchandise. We have no idea where he came from--it was almost a straight drop down the mountain on any side. How did this man get over the wall? Apparently, the Great Wall could keep invading Mongols out but it is no protection from a motivated Chinese vendor.


On our walk back through the parking lot/tourist trap village, we were harassed to no end by the hundred vendors all selling the exact same merchandise. I got fed up and lectured one vendor about why I refused to buy anything from him--I just don't like being begged to buy things I'm not interested in; if I want to buy something, I'll ask about it.


On the way back into the city, we asked the driver to drop us at the Lama Temple. My parents and I visited this amazing temple last summer, but we decided to see it again with my brother. It was well worth the extra visit and it was surprisingly uncrowded.

Hiking the Wall

We began the day at a section of the Great Wall to the west of Beijing. It was far enough out of the way from the Badaling section that it wasn’t crowded, but it was still touristy enough to be well kept over the years.

Our sorry excuse for a tour guide told us that we’d have ample time to climb the wall and capture the views. An hour and a half was what she gave us. I began thinking it would’ve been better if my parents and I had taken the city bus to walk the Wall ourselves--we would’ve learned just as much history from a travel office brochure as the girl speaking Chinglish gave us.

Mom and Dad didn’t look pleased staring up at the steep steps of the Wall. I knew they wouldn’t make it far before turning back. I took the bare necessities (my camera and wallet) and sped off ahead of the group. Unfortunately, I left behind my water bottle with my parents. That mistake cost me six kuai about half and hour later.

At the third tower along the Wall was a shop that sold certificates stating, “I climbed the Great Wall,” and an engraved name and date for about 80 kuai. It seemed that almost everyone stopped here for a breather and to head back down the mountain. I gazed up toward the peak and noticed the crowd dwindle with each step--that was where I wanted to be.

At the fifth tower, I was sweating profusely and a cool breeze was blowing past me. I stopped to re-hydrate with an over-priced bottle of water. I conversed with a European couple attempting to purchase a T-shirt. The gentleman didn’t realize that Chinese sizes run much larger. I explained that in the U.S. I wore a medium size, but in China my size ranged from XXL to XXXL. They laughed and purchased their enormous, foreign-sized souvenir shirt, thanked me for my help, and headed back down the steps.

At the sixth tower, I was exhausted. I met a nice university student from Fujian Province with limited English skills to match my Chinese. He graciously took a photo for me and I returned the favor. I was tempted to head back in exhaustion, but the student coaxed me into going further with him and his companions.

I took another short break at the seventh tower and began climbing to the eighth—the last tower I was convinced I would make considering it was at the peak. After a couple steps up, I glanced at my watch. I had only a half hour to make my way back down the mountain. I grudgingly turned back and hurried my steps.

Back at the second tower, I was confronted by an older Indian tourist who asked, "How much further is it?" "Depends how far you want to go," I responded. His son found this answer much more amusing than he did. I elaborated, "Well, most people buy their souvenirs and head back after the next tower. But I made my way up to the seventh." The older man didn’t appear to want to trek that far up the mountain.

I arrived at the bus just in time for our scheduled departure only to discover that we would be delayed by another half hour--enough time for me to have gone all the way to that elusive eighth tower.