Today, we revisited the wall in the daytime with all 10 towers open and ready to be explored. We took the cable car up around 9 am, which was an hour after opening, and remarkably, we appeared to be the only ones up there! Us and the cats.
Fun facts about the Great Wall of China:
* Contrary to popular belief, it can NOT be seen with the naked eye from the moon
* The wall is known as the longest cemetery on the planet. Millions of laborers died while building the wall, many of them buried beneath it.
* The wall is over 21,000km long, equal to half the length of the equator and takes 18 months to hike
* The average height of the wall is 6-7 metres
The section we hiked today ranged in elevation from 300-1000m and roughly 75% of the bricks and granite base were original. We were surprised at how chill the health and safety was in that there were minimal safety rails or ropes on the side of the wall. Which is good because it preserves the image of the wall, but when the wind came up… lucky I had a big, strong breakfast.
We spent some time wandering along the wall, marvelling at the sight. It was so impressive, and these photos really don’t do it justice.
It was very peaceful, though I’m sure it’d be different with tourists everywhere. How lucky were we?!
If I ever come back to China, I’d like to visit another section and walk a bit more of it.
A Small Adventure 