The alarm buzzed around 7 am, I was still snuggled under the blanket, lazy to get up. One by one we woke up and prepared ourselves for the busy day ahead.
We went down and ordered our free breakfast and sandwich for packed lunch. The hostels' cafe was packed, majority of us booked for the tour. By 8:30 am, our guide arrived and we were off.
Great Wall of China here we come!Maiko and I were seatmates in the bus.
The Great Wall is one of those places that I believe would be on everyone's bucket list of places to go to before they die. It's not just the grandeur of the walls but also the centuries and dynasties that went through the formation that makes its existence to have great significance in China's history.
It was during the Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC) when the emperor Qin Shi Huangdi decided to build the structure. Interestingly enough, in Chinese it is called "Wan-Li Qang-Qeng" meaning 10,000 Li-Wong Wall (10,000 li = 5000 km). It was under his reign that several Warring States were united, thus, the opportunity to have 4 old fortification walls connected and even more extended. It was impressive to know that it took 500,000 laborers to work on the walls. These efforts were to use the wall as defense against the nomadic Huns. Fire signals were used to let people know if Huns were approaching. Going back in history, the Huns were the armies of north Central Asia or also known as Mongolia who savaged villages throughout Asia and Europe from the 3rd to 5th century.
The Qin Dynasty was ousted by the Han Dynasty that led to building the second part of the Wall. They built the second part of the wall, still in the efforts to protect the kingdom from the raiders. A lot of the first structures were degrading due to the war but the constructions were still ongoing.
In 1115 the Jin Dynasty came into play the Mongols were still on to China. Additional works were done to the north and south walls however raiders were still on to them. Thus, the construction of the Third Wall.In 1276 the Mongols were successful to overthrow the Jin Dynasty but because of the lack of wall defense, the Ming Dynasty was able to regain power.
With the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) , the stretch was extended with an addition of 6,400 km over 200 years. There were additions of watch-towers and cannons. However, in 1644 the Manchu took over and started the Qing Dynasty. During those times, the wall saw more degradation with some people using rocks from it to build other edifices for personal use.
By the time we arrived, the sun was high up and I was happy that I didn't take my jacket with me or I would have regret it so much. I was awestruck by the length of the wall.... even to the distance where I couldn't even see where it ends. We were all happy....all impressed. Seriously, it was breathtaking. And I'm happy it was just a bunch of us walking that part of the wall. Woot woot! :)
We stopped at the different outposts, peeking through the small crevices, imagining centuries ago when the
soldiers would be on guard for any Mongolians in site. I remember blurting out a thought/question, "How could they have managed to walk along these walls in heavy armour?" It might have sounded blonde, but that was all I could think of.
The Jinshanling wall was truly challenging most especially parts where we had to go up steps which didn't seem to be built for humans, well for me it felt like it was for long legged people. I found it interesting to pass through a few posts where water,fizzy and food were sold. It was more amazing when one of the guys showed me a photo from his girlfriend who visited the same wall 5 years ago. It was the same guy who was selling the stuff. That just told me that he did this job everyday. Awesome.
We ended the walk at the border of Simatai. I could clearly see from the distance who rugged that portion was, which explained why they had it closed to the public.
Us girls ended the night with authentic Chinese dinner and of course local BOOZE! :) It was well-earned after the strenuous walk up the Great Wall of China! :)
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