Oct 01 2007
Walk on the Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is beyond doubt one of the most amazing human-made structures in the world and walking on the Great Wall is as powerful an experience as you would imagine.
Snaking 6,700km (4,163 miles) from east to west, the Great Wall of China can be wild and crumbly, with some parts erased with the ravages of time. And then there are the perfectly intact sections where the stone steps become a welcome mat for day trippers to walk back in time.
The Great Wall was built to fortify China against the attack of nomadic hordes, section by section, between the 5th century BC and 16th century AD, making it truly one of the world’s greatest man-made projects. The most popular section of the Great Wall is located at Badaling, approximately 60km from Beijing’s city centre. Built during the Ming Dynasty, the wall there is 8 metres (26 feet) high and 6 metres (20 feet) wide and, although readily accessible to visitors of all ages, parts can be quite steep. Watchtowers built on the Wall at 500 metre (1,640 feet) intervals provided accommodation, a storage facility for military equipment, and a protected area for the observation of enemy movements. There are also other sections accessible to tourists including Mutianyu and Simatai which have less tourists and especially in the case of the latter, offer a more authentic view of the Great Wall.
A trip to the Great Wall of China could be one of the biggest adventures of your life, and it’s definitely one of the world’s great wonders to behold.