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Mutian Yu, 75 km portion of the Great Wall is surrounded by beautifully colored autumn leaves.

CHINA November 2010

Text and photo by Judy Bong

6000 Kilometers of Wonder Wall

Bricks. Bricks over bricks over bricks over bricks. Over the horizon a long never ending gray wall extended to the top of the mountain. Rows of tiny shops displayed souvenirs. Using poor English, merchants showed little Chinese souvenirs.

Walking for about ten minutes, massive amount of stairs leading to my destination was spread along the mountain. Before even stepping on the stairs, I was already running out of breath because of the steep road. Before even beginning the journey, my legs were as heavy as sand bags. When I lifted my head, there were 1411 stairs waiting for me.

Stepping on more than 9000 years old stone makes you feel like an ancient Chinese soldier walking around the wall, guarding the country from Mongolia. It was fabulous to walk on the 6000km wall. The Great Wall of China is the largest structure built by human hands, and the only man-made construction visible to astronauts orbiting in space.

There are many sections all with different kinds of appeals to avid tourist in Great Wall. Of course crawling 6000km is impossible, so I only hiked one section of the Great Wall, Mutian Yu for about two hours. With anticipation to see a grand

Place you have to visit in

your life.

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spectacle, I stepped the stairs one by one ,but it was a disappoint-ment. Nothing. There was nothing magnificent. unlike my expect-tation, there were only stone stairs, bunch of trees and leaves. With frustration, I did not give up but continued climbing. Over the stone stairs, gray walls stretched infinitely. I was finally on top of one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and became the “real hero.” As my tour guide Martin said “If you don’t climb the Great Wall of China, you are not real hero.” My frustration and tiredness disappeared at once as I faced the most beautiful scenery in my life. Colors of leaves were just so beautiful. Red, green, yellow. Whole place smelled like tree and the air was so fresh, crisp, and cool. Walking along the few thousands years old wall that embedded a lot of history is something that everyone should try. Stones of the Great Wall have

been eroded from its thousand years of history and many tourists from all over the world.

Sapphire colored wide sky spread right above my head as if I can touch it soon. The trees on the mountains have turned their beautiful colors. Wherever my head turns, everywhere are crimson maple leaves, and golden leaves of the autumn tints. The mounta ins a re ab laze wi th autumnal tints. At the Great Wall I could experience last tints of autumn of the end of October. Mutian Yu Great Wall is known for its beautiful surroundings. Dense woods, quietness and rich pastures changing colors with the seasons of a year. In the quiet Mutain Yu Great Wall surrounded by huge mountains, I was cut down from the civilization. Cut down from the civilization, cool and fresh breeze of the autumn mountain refreshed my mind and body. This section of the Great

Seven wonders of the

world , the Great Wall.

First Photo: Over view of the entire Mutian Yu great wall

Second Photo: View of autumn mountain.

Third Photo: Nice view of Great Wall.

GREAT SCENERY OF GREAT WALL

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Wall, about 75 km from the center of Beijing, is one of the best preserved section of the Great Wall.

Gaz ing down a t the mountain sticking face out of the wall, I was amazed at its height. The ground was no more visible. This made me to wonder, how Chinese built this 6000 km long wall carrying all these heavy and huge stones all the way to this high peak of the mountain. Chinese’s patience was just so astonishing. It is not tiring at all to walk a long distance because of the cool breeze of autumn. Autumn is the perfect season to visit the Great Wall because it is not too hot and not too cold. I was just absorbed into the beautiful scenery spread in front of me. To my left, right, back and front, mountains surrounded me showing off its gorgeous color.

Continuously saving the beautiful scenery of the Great Wall

in my camera, I savored the view and cool breeze. Hiking portion of the wall was already over, as time flew under the attraction of grand beauty of Great Wall. It seemed all the fun was over but this was not the end. Coming down the Great wall was also a unique and m e m o r a b l e e x p e r i e n c e . Tobogganing down the mountain was just unforgettable. There is a skid way and using the toboggan I could slide down the mountain at the speed I want while looking more closely at the colorful mountains. To feel the thrill to slide down the mountain once more, I paid 65 Yuan to ride cable car to go up and toboggan down the mountain. It was really fun. This is another thing that you can only experience in China. After being on top of the Great Wall I understood why it was Seven Wonders of the World. I will never forget its awesome spectacle.

FUN ACTIVITIES IN GREAT WALL

First Photo: Cable Car going to the top of the Great Wall

Second photo: Rail for the tobogganing down the great wall.

Third Photo: You can stick out your head out of the wall and feel the nice breeze.

Never ending 75 km of Mutian Yu Great Wall.

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Beijing is place to feel modern China while Xian is a place to experience ancient China.City wall of Xian

I pulled out one of the old bicycle from the renting place. Peddling down the bicycle about 100 meters, the chain of the bicycle broke. I used body language to change the bicycle and began the 9 mile journey on the ancient city wall of Xian. It feels very unique and thrilling to ride a bicycle on more than 100 years old artifact as it is an impossible experience to have in other countries. More than 100 years old stones were eroded from the ages. It was hard to ride bicycle on the rough stone ground of city wall of Xian, but I could not deny riding because of many attracting sights. Whole city of Xian was in my sight, so it was worth riding the bike despite of the pain. Nice, cool breeze made me feel better while riding the bike. Along the wall, ancient weapons were displayed in the same position as it would be positioned in the ancient China. Monuments of cannons, and variety of torturing tools were displayed. Slowly bicycling along the wall reading information about the monuments, I felt like an ancient Chinese soldier. Every about 500 meters

there were different beautiful Chinese buildings. Little and big buildings represented Chinese architecture style very well. Especially looking at the elaborate, vivid colored patterns drawn on the roof of the building, I could infer the great art skills of China. Whenever I got tired from the long ride of bicycle, I could just rest under the ancient Chinese buildings. With vivid colors, and Chinese style, it was a perfect place to take photo. City wall seems a boring place to tour, but actually it is really fun. The fact of riding a bike on top of thousand old cultural heritage itself is just an amazing and exciting experience. Only available in China!

Photo  on  the  left:    Over  view  of  the  City  Wall  of  Xian  ,China.    People  ride  bicycles  on  the  wall.    Along  the  side  of  the  wall,  there  is    beautiful  chinese  building  with  red  chinese  lanterns.    At  night  the  wall  is  very  beautiful  with  the  red  lights  surrounding  it.

CITY WALL OF XIANContaining more than 100 years of

history

Chinese performance at the city wall