“Great Wall Tour!”, summoned the receptionist on duty at Peking Yard Hostel. I immediately raised my hand when I heard her call then I stood up, grabbed my backpack from the side of my seat, and marched towards the reception desk. “The bus is coming”, she said as she turned me over to an elder guy at the front door. The hostel gate swung open and the elder man and I walked through the quietness of the morning at Wangzhima Hutong.
It was 7°C in Beijing. While I could actually just curl up in my bed, warm and cozy the whole day, I chose to gear up for our Jinshanling-Simatai Great Wall activity. “Am I the only one from Peking Yard?”, I asked the elder man. “Yes”, he nodded. He was a fluent English speaker, so our conversation went on until we met the main road.
Waiting for our tourist bus at the end of Wangzhima Hutong
We stopped at the side walk. I could now feel the winter seeping into my face. After about five minutes, a fair-skinned lady in her late 20’s could be seen scurrying towards us. The man waved to her and she beamed back. When she stopped in front of us, she was introduced to me as our tour guide for the day. On cue, I bade my farewell to the old man and joined the lady as we crossed the street towards the tourist bus parked next to a curb.
All eyes on me when I walked down the aisle of the bus. The seats have already been occupied by other tourists and I felt uncomfortable as I searched for a vacant seat. When I saw one along the aisle, I carefully took my backpack off my shoulder and squeezed it into the cramped leg room before I sat down.
Stopover at a gasoline station outside Beijing
The tour guide introduced herself and ended her spiel by giving each of us an orange baller. After providing a brief background of Jinshanling-Simatai Great Wall tour, the bus set off at 8:55 AM. Except for one stopover at a gasoline station at an outskirt of Beijing, our bus traveled continuously over expressways fringed with scenic views of the Chinese winter.
We arrived at Jinshanling visitors area exactly three hours since we departed Beijing. The arrangement of our Great Wall tour is that the bus would drop us off at the starting point in Jinshanling section of the Great Wall and would pick us up later in the afternoon at a different location close to our ending point in Simatai.
Our tour group gathered outside the main gate of the Jinshanling section of the Great Wall
From the parking lot we traveled by foot to the main gate. Our tour guide reiterated the scope of our Jinshanling Great Wall hike. She mentioned hints on which watchtowers would we feel exhausted the most and which parts are the easiest to accomplish. She emphasized that we should be at the final watchtower before the guards lock it at 3 PM, and that we should complete the hike as fast as we could without compromising our sightseeing. Our guide didn’t join us in the hike—she only gave us instructions on where would we end up.
Our short hike to the first watchtower
We started at 12 NN. It took us around 10 minutes to walk from the ticket gate to the foot of the Wall. The wintry mountain air brushed through my exposed neck and I thought I would succumb to the cold for the rest of the hike. But as soon as we found ourselves climbing the steps up the first watchtower, my body acquired enough warmth—too warm that I began sweating even at the first part.
Outline of the Great Wall
When we emerged from the watchtower, we finally saw the picturesque scenery over at the Jinshansling section of the Great Wall. The rugged brick structure undulating over hilltops, the scenic contrast of Earth and sky tones, the entire tranquility of the place. It was surreal. I couldn’t believe I made it to this side of the planet. It was beautiful.
Sudden assault to the next watchtower
The length of the Great Wall was intimidating but the glorious scenery kept us going
Winding up over mountaintops
The Great Wall at Jinshanling is said to be the best to visit among other spots
So close yet so far!
Ruins at the Wall
Shadow selfie at the Great Wall of China
The tourists from my group were fast hikers. Two possible reasons: maybe I consumed so much time taking pictures, or I was really a poky hiker. I couldn’t make it up to their speed. Most of the time I was behind the pack. Is it because my limbs were shorter than theirs? Maybe. Or is it because they’re all seasoned climbers? I don’t think so.
The Great Wall at Jinshanling is said to be the best place to visit among other Great Wall sections due to the least volume of visitors it receives on a daily basis. Being remote and far from Beijing, only those joining organized tours flock to Jinshanling and they can have the entire stretch of the Wall to themselves.
Moving on to the next watchtower
Some parts of the Great Wall at Jinshanling have undergone restoration
Jinshanling Great Wall is the place to be if you want to avoid the tourist crowd
A watchtower standing on a rugged cliff
Taking a short break from the hike
Are we there yet? Nope!
The ruins at the Great Wall give a sense of rawness to the place as a whole
Hole in the Wall
Here comes the difficult part of the trek
I was sweating profusely. I could feel that my shirt was already dripping in sweat. My windbreaker jacket effectively fought the winter cold, but at the same time caused my sweat glands to loosen up too much. I decided to take a couple of stops along the wall, removing my jacket to let fresh air flow through my wet tee shirt.
Then I was famished. We started our trek exactly at noon, and we didn’t have the luxury of time to grab some lunch before the hike. We were informed beforehand to bring our own food so we could eat our meal whenever we feel the need to. I waited till we reached the most difficult portion of the trail, and I stopped at a watchtower midway to have my light lunch. I threw my backpack to the corner, removed my heavy jacket, and opened my can of tuna paella and breads.
I spent a quarter of an hour enjoying lunch inside the ruined watchtower. That’s the very least I could do to let my shirt and jacket go dry after several minutes of sweating at the Wall.
Fellow tourists clambering up the ruins of the Great Wall
Such a perfect place to relax
The moon could already be seen up above
We’re all dead tired this time around
Almost near the final watchtower
Few more steps and we’re there!
A tower guard sits next to a cliff
We were so pumped up we didn’t notice we went beyond the last watchtower until someone told us to go back. If I’m not mistaken we should stop upon reaching Tower 22 but I didn’t count the towers from the start, that’s why. So, when we made it to the end, we felt more than satisfied. It was totally fulfilling I could print my own certificate of completion.
After minutes of rest at the last watchtower, we descended an offshoot trail leading to the highway where we would meet our bus once again. My legs were a bit shaky now, and my shirt was still wet. I thought I didn’t have to bring an extra shirt for I expected it would be too cold at the site, but I was wrong.
After finishing the tour, we followed a path down towards to the main road
Hooray, we finally reached the endpoint!
A few more turns and we saw our bus. Hooray, we’ve conquered the Great Wall! Err—no, only six kilometers of it. But at least it was a memorable journey.
As a kid I used to believe that Great Wall of China could be seen from outer space. This belief was crushed after I read that it’s hardly visible to the naked eye as it matches the colors of the surrounding land. I know, I was fooled by the myth, but it didn’t stop me from admiring this monumental work of ancient engineering. For one, it’s still the Great Wall of China.
And I conquered it…
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