05/26/2007

The Great Wall No. 3: Hiking

Back to the Great Wall! This time, Julia and I hiked from Jianshanling to Simatai, about 8 kilometers (5 miles) on the wall. Also equal to the length of 60 arrow flights, since we passed 30 guard towers and, according to Julia, the towers are no more than 2 arrow flights apart, so that every point between them can be defended from one or the other.
The wall from Jianshanling to Simatai is partly original and partly restored, with lots of ups and downs as it crawls along the mountain ridge. The wall itself is, of course, impressive, and the surrounding countryside is absolutely beautiful. It was very very hot and sunny, but we couldn't have asked for a better day. The guard towers are always good for a cool down, although they're filled with ever-entrepreneurial local Chinese "farmers" hawking ice water and Coca Cola. Also the requisite "I climbed the Great Wall" T-shirts and other tacky souvenirs.
All in all though, a great adventure, and a fantastic way to spend my last Saturday in China!

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