Great Wall

It took about an hour and half, maybe longer, to get to Mutianyu from our hotel in Beijing. Mutianyu is part of the Great Wall of China that is within driving distance from Beijing that has the least number of tourists.

The gondola in front of ours sped up and dipped to hold on to the tracks above – it was a little intimidating but we hopped on our cart. I waited for the increase in speed and the dip and when it happened, it was relief. The gondola went straight up the mountainside with decisive speed, our guide tried to take our picture but I was afraid shifting the weight in the middle of this climb would cause a disaster. We did it anyway…

The top of the mountain was an amazing site. The mountains were steep, the terrain was rough, the wind was crisp, the sky was blue, the clouds were puffy, and the Great Wall seemed endless… You can’t help but be awed, intimidated, and overwhelmed by the sight of the Great Wall sitting on top of the steep mountains and rough terrain. As you stand on the guard tower of the Wall, you can see so far away that no enemy will ever be able to sneak up on you or attack you in stealth. As you walked along the Wall, the loneliness of the soldiers is almost palatable. And as you looked at the engineering details of the Wall, you can’t help but be proud and sad of being part of the human race that possess so much ingenuity and at the same time so much insecurity…

Ironically, the Manchus were let in by one of the generals patrolling the border because he was not happy with the government under which he served… After general Wu opened the gate to the Manchus, the Qing Dynasty was established after the Manchus seized Beijing. Was the construction of the Wall worth it for those from the Ming Dynasty? Maybe, maybe not. However, without the construction and preservation of those before us, we’ll surely not have such amazing architecture to marvel or to admire.