Keith- The Great Wall of China
Our first full day in China was Thursday and spent most of the day being tourists at the Great Wall of China. We visited an area of the Wall called Badaling which is the most popular section to visits because it’s close to Beijing and it has been modified with handrails and some amenities. The handrails are very important as I had no real appreciation for how steep and rugged the wall was constructed. I had a very different impression going in that it was flatter almost like walkways between turrets on a castle. Very wrong impression. The walk up to the highest point took about hour and a half and it was strenuous with very irregular steps where there were steps and other very steep slopes all made of smooth stone. The views were nothing short of spectacular as we were blessed for a second day with gorgeous blue skies and crisp 40 degree weather.
The words will fail me to describe the feeling of walking on the Great Wall built so long ago and something I’ve read about since I was in elementary school. There’s a reason it is one of the great wonders of the world.
Most of the thousands of tourists I saw were largely Chinese – very few Westerners. Ironically though I met three gentlemen about 2/3 the way up who were clearly either US or Western European and said hello and one was from Raleigh! One of the most surprising experiences (and fun) was the attention I got from all the Chinese on the Wall to my height. There are not a lot of people here well over six feet – that combined with my fair hair and skin made me an instant attraction and I was stopped and posed for no less than 30 photos with visitors. They were all so happy and gracious for me to stop and shake hands.
In addition to our delegation and our high school students, we were joined on the trip over to the Great Wall by three students from Ukraine. Our delegation leader Fran Nolan knew the Ukrainian leader from previous trips and offered to take the students with us since we had a rented mini-bus. They were so excited and fun. This morning they came by our breakfast table and gave Fran a large box of chocolates from Ukraine as a thank you for our hospitality. Being overseas and seeing so many people from so many countries conversing and making friendships has been good for my soul, particularly at a time back home of such nastiness and division in our politics.