Last Saturday, I went to the Great Wall of China. It was not quite what I expected. I had always seen pictures with wide walkways and tall sides, surrounded by green hills, and covered with tourists. The section of the Great Wall we went to was not covered with tourists at all, in fact, it was closed to tourists. We were able to buy special tickets to enter a village and climb the wall. Pay attention to the word climb. Once we got to the village, which was surrounded by tall mountains, I was busy looking at the valley filled with lavender, and I didn’t even notice the Wall, which was at the top of the mountain.
It wasn’t until lunch that I looked up and saw the Wall through the fog.
Fog is another important word in this story.
After lunch our tour guide showed up to lead us to the Wall. We started walking down a road the town had just finished building, which I assumed led up to the Wall, but instead went by a small muddy path. This was the path we took. This picture is of my group climbing up the mountain through the trees, shrubs, and muddy rocks.

Once we got to the top we were a little surprised, this wasn’t what we were expecting. It was raining, and very foggy, and the parts of the wall were overgrown with shrubs and trees. Some sections had fallen over or disintegrated. The walls didn’t have railings in some parts, and often times we were walking on a two foot wide path with trees to our left and a really long drop on our right (we could see the tops of the trees over the edge, but no farther, the ground was obscured by fog, but the drop would be at least 30 feet to the top of a tree).
The stairs were not exactly wheelchair accessible either. These steps were 2 feet tall and 6 inches deep in some parts. It was almost like climbing a really old stone ladder.
So while we carefully climbed up and down the stairs, making sure not to slip or step on one of the loose rocks, our tour guide was literally running down the steps. He was chain smoking the entire time too. I guess since he runs up and down the Great Wall, he isn’t worried about smoking killing him. This was our tour guide in the middle:

After a couple hours of walking around the Wall, we decided to come down. Once we got to the bottom, we were able to relax and eat dinner. Everyone was exhausted, muddy, and hungry. A few had fallen and scratched or bruised themselves. But even though this wasn’t quite what we were expecting, it was better.
We were able to see what many people never had, and never will. If it isn’t opened to tourists, then we have been fortunate to see it, and if this is opened to tourists, it will be eventually covered in Doritos bags, bathrooms, elevators, and t-shirt stands. The Wall looked just like it has since it was built, and it was breathtaking when the fog cleared. It truly is a Great Wall.