Until now, I still can not believe that I was able to walk along the Great Wall of China. Though I would’ve wanted to tread along the more preserved and faraway ruins, like in Jinshaling the mountains, doing so via Badaling, China was a starting point.
We visited the Great Wall during the end of our China–Mongolia journey. Actually, we originally planned to see it first before heading to Mongolia. However, it was raining when we first arrived in Beijing so we scrapped the plan and visited the Forbidden City first. When I was in Mongolia, I was praying that our last chance to visit the wall will be on a sunny day. If it rained, my dream to see it up close will be lost. Good thing the weather cooperated. And it was hot and humid that day.
We chose visiting the Great Wall via Badaling since it was publicly accessible from Beijing. Efficient public commute was a gift for wandering tourist because we can visit the place affordably. Check out here how we got to the Great Wall.
The Great Wall of China is not actually China’s first great wall. Through the centuries, ancient Chinese people built their own versions of a great defence structure like this one. From the Han dynasty to the Ming, and even before there was even a China. Their forebears loved to built walls to defend their land from invaders. It was truly an amazing feat as this is the largest human structure on the planet. Spanning some 6,000 miles. Seeing it up close and personal was more than surreal. It was amazing.
I have found a good resource about the history of China‘s great walls via a documentary by National Geographic in Youtube (one that has running Youtube ads about travel). You can watch it here.
