The Great Wall Challenge

I was in Beijing attending an office Meeting from 11th to 15th July. On the last day we had a social event, and the challenge was to climb the Great wall. I was there 3 years ago during my company review meeting & knew what to expect. I was mentally prepared but not physically for the climb, as I had missed many of the walks I usually do in the evenings. last time I was here time was limited & could go past 3 stages, but this time I had more time to go further

As we (a group of 24 people) left in the Bus from the hotel at 7 am, it was cloudy and drizzling intermittently. Soon we were out of the city limits and took the expressway G45 towards the Great Wall at Jinshan. This we were informed by the tour guide , would not be crowded by international tourists as its far from the city & would take us close to 2 hours. This part of the great wall was built during the Ming dynasty. 

The bus passed through fields for 45 min and, soon entered the hills. I was in awe of the expressway, it did not turn & climb like in India. It just passed through the hills with help of long tunnels and high bridges over valleys. One such tunnel was 2.4 km long, perfectly illuminated & had high strong ceiling. The bridges over the valleys were high making no compromise on fast travel. The expressway never dipped to cross a valley, nor did it wound around any hill. The bus was maintaining a consistent speed of 110 kph. The driver didn't have to put his foot on the brake, was driving quite relaxed but in complete control.  The numerous tunnels & Bridges we crossed were strong and gave you a feeling,  they would stand the test of time like the great wall itself. Such was the quality of construction. Wish we had them in India too. 

At 8:50 the bus took an exit and went down a narrow winding road into the hills. In ten minutes we got down at the Jinshan Great Wall parking lot. We decided to climb till 11 which would be the turning point to return & meet at a point in case separated. Then go for lunch. Fortunately the rain had stopped and it was cool & cloudy, a perfect weather for the climb. We referred a map and decided we would all go to the west side as that part of the Great Wall was in its original state and no renovation had been done. We could see the wall ahead & up on the hill from east to west. 

A short walk brought us to the foot of the hill which had stairs built to reach the entry on to the wall. The short steep climb was done in 5 min and there was the Wall, magnificently standing as it has for so many centuries.

We turned west & started our walk over the wall. The first stage was not so difficult and manged quickly enjoying the views & taking lots of pictures. Then the climb steadily grew steeper, with most of us huffing & puffing as we reached another stage, a watchtower. A watch tower is placed strategically on the wall on regular intervals. These were the stages we were counting. Took a break and continued to the next and then the next. It was a great feeling , a sense of personal satisfaction of achieving something was dwelling inside me as we negotiated an almost vertical climb with steep steps, which were not aligned making the climb difficult. This was the most difficult part and once done, relaxed enjoying the vista.

It was a great sight with the wall going over the one hill after another as far as I could see, turning & twisting like a dragon. I was told all of it was more than 6000 km. Build as a defense against the invaders from Mongolia now it stands as a magnificent feat of what man has achieved. But it was not all glory, it is believed many workers died during the construction by starvation, exhaustion, accidents & over working. Most of those workers were volunteers picked up from the local villages & solders. Nothing is accomplished without a price, its only a question of how much is worth.

I made another last effort  to reach the 9th watch tower. After more than an hour & 30 min I was at a vantage point of the watchtower number 9. 3 more colleagues made it to that point. 

After resting a while we were rejuvenated & wanted to continue but it was time to turn around. At the 7th stage, met with rest of the group. Took pictures and started back. Luckily we didn't had to go all the way we came, there was a short cut from the 6th tower through the forest below to the parking & we took it. A clear paved path was made through the forest, it turned left, right but all the time going down.

Even though we were getting down faster, due to the monotonous walking it seemed longer. We realized  on reaching the meeting point it was indeed quite short & saved almost 30 min. We had lunch at nearby restaurant & returned back to the hotel. I soaked my feet & legs in warm water to let go the stiffness I was experiencing. Although it was tough, it was great fun & more importantly was the unbeatable sense of satisfaction of scaling The Great Wall of China.

Noida. 31-07-2016