Beauty in Imperfection

The Great Expedition, the Great Wall. I think of all the sights i have seen in Beijing, this tops my list hands down. Quoting from Mao Ze Dong "不到长城非好汉!". A little disclaimer though, experience varies with the walls attempted.

There are in all three different sections of the great wall that is opened to the public (Badaling, Mutianyu and Sima tai). And from what I gathered, Badaling is the most popular choice amongst tourists for its very easy climb up. For that, be prepared to brave the crowd, just like any other attractions in Beijing (a major turn off for me). Badaling is one of the most highly restored section of the great wall, where climbing has been made so easy that you can do it even with eyes closed.

The great wall at the commune is an exclusive and unrestored section of the Badaling wall, that is opened only to hotel guests. That explains why we were the only peeps over at the wall (first plus point). When we were told we were about to climb the 野长城, we did not take it literally. So decked in boots, pumps and gucci bag, we thought we were ready.

All hyped up for the climb ahead!

We were not at all prepared for the hike up to the great wall. I imagined the route to be a straight flat path that would take us right to the head of the wall. When we had to risk slipping over snow covered rocks and were left panting after only 15 mins with still no sight of the head, i knew this was only the beginning of our adventure. Kind of reminded me of the hike up the cave rocks (at christmas creek) over at brisbane with my dad and hq many years back. Definitely not for the faintest of hearts!

Hike up to the wall

And then when we were finally at the top, the girls were so terrified of what laid ahead that they refused to move on! The wall was in such ruins, we werent even sure if it was safe for us to move ahead. The steps were broken, the sides were abruptly chopped off and wild bushes were springing up from everywhere over the path. The wind got so strong at one point that we all had to huddle down in a ball just so that we did not get blown away. But because i had braved so much to get there, there was no way i was going to turn back! I inisted on moving ahead, and the only way down was on all fours.

I conquered!
Steep way down
What a sight!

We then came to a lone tower that seemed to come out straight from a scene of Lord of the Rings. Pretty pretty!

Out in the wilderness

Though everything was in total ruins, i saw beauty in such imperfection. Really, i cannot describe it any better. You got to be there to see what i saw.