The Great Wall - Part 1 - Getting There Is Half The Fun

I had feared I might not be able to find a way to get out to see the Great Wall, especially doing things on my own. Kevin, who works here in COMMs had not been to the wall either, but he works 3pm to 3am, so it seemed unlikely we could go together.

Fortunately, John, the COMMs manager wanted us both to be able to go, so he allowed me to leave work early at 10:30am, and Kevin to come in late about 4:30pm. That gave us a 6 hour window in which to get there and back. It takes a little over an hour each way, so we would have more than 3 hours to explore once we got there.

We arranged for Jack, a private driver (previously used by John) to pick us up at 10:30am on Monday from the IBC. On Monday morning, someone named Susan called wanting to know how many of us there were ("two"), and could we switch to leaving at 12:30am ("No!").

Susan, who is Jack's "brother", told us Jack had already left with another group. Susan doesn't drive, but arranged for another brother (who drives a taxi, but speaks no English) to take us, and Susan would come as well.

I tried to explain to her where they could pick us up (there are a lot of traffic restrictions around the IBC), but we couldn't get it straight. I ended up running down the hall and giving the phone to some here in Logistics who speaks both English and Mandarin, and she was able to explain where to go.

Then, at 10:30am, she called to say she was waiting outside, and we spent 10 minutes walking around trying to find each other. Again, I had to find a bilingual Olympic volunteer who could provide directions. Ultimately, we got in the taxi and were on our way (and a HUGE sense of relief came over me).

Susan and her other "brother" turned out to be very nice. I think we figured out later than she was using brother to mean friend. Either that, or she has a lot of brothers. She and her brothers are very entrepreneurial; they own a DVD store, and she runs a restaurant (and apparently they arrange trips for toursits on the side).

The cost for the two of them to take the two of us to the wall, wait for us for 3 hours, and then drive us home again, was 600Y (about $100, or $50 each). I would have paid three times that amount or more to make sure I got to see the wall.

But enough about the logistics, you want the pictures!

We went to the Mutianyu section of the wall, which is much less touristy than the other section that is easily accessible from Beijing. Plus it has another cool feature that you'll have to wait for.

Once you reach the wall, you pass through a little mini-market ("You need this!"), purchase tickets for the cable-car lift to take you to the mountain ridge (the Great Wall generally follows mountain ridges, designed, as they were, to keep out invading hordes).

As you head up in the cable-car, and pass over the tops of the trees near the bottom, you can catch your first glimpse of the wall through the plexiglass window.

Stepping out of the cable-car platform, and heading up the stairs onto the wall, you are suddenly presented with (what seems like) the whole thing all at once.

Turning around, I suddenly realize how high up we are, and what a great view we have of the valley and surrounding mountains.

Back to the stairs, it is now only a few short (but steep) steps until we are reach the top of the wall.

Here I am, finally, on top of the wall. And all I can think of is "Oh my God, I am standing on the Great Wall of China!". How cool is that?