The Great Wall of China is a series of
fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials,
generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern
borders of China in part to protect the Chinese Empire or its prototypical
states against intrusions by various nomadic groups or military incursions by
various warlike peoples or forces. Several walls were being built as early as
the 7th century BC; these, later joined together and made bigger and stronger,
are now collectively referred to as the Great Wall. Especially famous is the
wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang.
Little of that wall remains. Since then, the Great Wall has on and off been
rebuilt, maintained, and enhanced; the majority of the existing wall is from
the Ming Dynasty.
Other purposes of the Great Wall have included
border controls, allowing the imposition of duties on goods transported along
the Silk Road, regulation or encouragement of trade and the control of
immigration and emigration. Furthermore, the defensive characteristics of the
Great Wall were enhanced by the construction of watch towers, troop barracks,
garrison stations, signaling capabilities through the means of smoke or fire,
and the fact that the path of the Great Wall also served as a transportation
corridor.
The main Great Wall line stretches from Shanhaiguan
in the east, to Lop Lake in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the
southern edge of Inner Mongolia. A comprehensive archaeological survey, using
advanced technologies, has concluded that the Ming walls measure 8,850 km
(5,500 mi). This is made up of 6,259 km (3,889 mi) sections of
actual wall, 359 km (223 mi) of trenches and 2,232 km
(1,387 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers. Another
archaeological survey found that the entire wall with all of its branches
measure out to be 21,196 km (13,171 mi).
You can’t see
the Great Wall from space. It’s not one long wall, but a series of formations
created over a long period of time. In fact, no one knows for sure how many
sections of the wall actually exist. It required a colossal investment in
manpower, money and time to construct and maintain, yet it failed spectacularly
on the two occasions that mattered most: in the 13th century, when
the Mongol hordes overran northern China and established the Yuán Dynasty 大元; and in 1644, when the Manchu conquered the
country. And it is truly a magnificent sight, and a must-see on anyone’s
Chinese itinerary.
On the second
full day of our weekend trip to Bĕijīng 北京, I bade farewell to my wife and daughter, and
embarked on a tour to one of the more lesser-known and least-visited sections
of the wall. Organized by one of the city’s youth hostels, our group of 16
(including your humble scribe) intrepid (and mainly German-speaking) youthful
travelers traveled on a three-hour bus ride to Jīnshānlĭng 金山岭长城, 125 kilometers (78 miles) northeast of
Beijing. For me, it was the ideal tour: a guide walked us to the start of the
hiking path, pointed out on the map where we needed to turn left and then
right, and then announced she would see us in about three hours, leaving us to
do the hike on our own:
The first part of the hike was on a section restored in the 1980’s, making for a relatively easy walk in the beginning:
The day had
started out dreary and overcast in Beijing, then became smoggy as our bus left
the city. By the time we reached Jinshanling, however, the weather couldn’t
have been better:
Just one of many classic views that afternoon:
One
not-so-serious selfie…:
…and one
serious shot:
The wall
snaked its way across the top of the ridge, but I wondered why it was built in
this location. It was hard to imagine any army attempting to cross this section
of steep terrain in order to launch an attack. Surely the Chinese could have
relied on natural defensive barriers like the one in Jinshanling and
concentrated more of their forces in more likely invasion spots:
The Dark
Tower was just one of 22 watchtowers we passed through during the hike. Peter
Jackson was no doubt inspired by the Chinese beacon system whereby fires would be lit on these watchtowers as a way of
transmitting signals:
It was steep
going in some places:
And the wall goes on…:
Eventually,
the wall reverted to its more natural state, with crumbling steps and equally
crumbling watchtowers. It was at this point that the possibility of broken
bones or sprained ankles became real:
Isolated
though they may have been, some of the watchtowers were occupied by vendors selling
drinks and Snicker bars. One “poor farmer from Inner Mongolia" became offended
when I wouldn’t buy a kids-size T-shirt from her, even though she insisted I “had to”:
At one point,
the wind whipped up and blew me closer to the edge than I would’ve liked. It
made me wonder how many soldiers lost their lives on the wall in just such a
manner, or by slipping or falling on the steep steps. Or from the dangers posed
by heavy rain, earthquakes, snow or lightning strikes. Or from suicides brought
about by boredom or loneliness. What did the soldiers eat? Where did they
sleep, or go to the bathroom? What did they do to ward off the tedium? How long
were their tours of duty? It’s one thing to hike a relatively short section of
the wall by choice. It’s another to be forced to stand guard atop a lonely
ridge in the middle of nowhere, constantly scanning the landscape for incursions by terrifying
“barbarians” from the north:
A taste of
the surrounding scenery:
At some
points it was necessary to use my hands as well as my feet in order to ascend the steps:
And the wall
goes on, both in front of and behind me:
Another
selfie:
I admit this
shot makes me look somewhat chunky. It’s true I’ve gotten heavy; on the other
hand, I traversed six kilometers (3.7 miles) and passed through 22 watchtowers
in just two hours and forty minutes. In fact, I was the first of our group to
finish the hike, when I had been worried that I was the one the young ‘uns
would’ve been waiting for at the bus:
Nearing the
end:
The view
through a couple of watchtower windows. “Autobahn!”
cried one of the German-speaking hikers:
A last look back
at whence I had come:
The wall
continued on to Sīmătái 司马台, but this
was the point where our group needed to leave the wall and make its way down to where the bus
would be waiting. Did I mention I was the first to finish?:
A last look
at the landscape and the Great Wall as I headed downhill:
Some of the
local wildlife:
It was around
7:30 in the evening by the time I was reunited with Amber and Pamela. Hiking
the Great Wall of China, even just a small section of it, meant another item could be crossed off of my bucket list (if I had one, that is). We still had one full
day left in Beijing, however…:
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