Day 11 of China Trip. On this morning, waking up with the sun streaming in through the windows and only hearing the sounds of trees ruffling and nothing else was amazing. To be in a place that left you with a serene and calm feeling, was pretty new to us after the hustle and bustle of our daily lives and even the first few days of our trip in China. We got up, got dressed and took a slow stroll down to breakfast. I had a spring in my step, since this was going to be the day that I would tick another thing off my bucket list.
If anyone knows me like really knows me, you know I totally dislike hiking. My husband promised me that we need to do a small little walk to the wall and then just walk the wall. He also promised that it would take less than a hour for this complete exercise. Of course this was not the case for me. Firstly the little walk to the wall ended up being a 40 minute hike!!!! Well it took me 40 minutes because I had to stop so many times to catch my breath. The climb was steep and at some places you had to hold onto a tree for support. The only good thing was that it was shaded with trees, so we didn’t have the sun beating down on us. I was completely exhausted and exactly 3 times I said that we should turn back and that the “Great Wall of China” would then be something I could not tick off my bucket list. Each time my husband encouraged me and cheered me on to just go a few more steps and promised that the wall was just beyond the tree. When I think about it now, I cannot believe that I actually believed him each time. Or it could be that it was the hope within me that just maybe it was true and the wall was just beyond the next tree.
40 minutes later we entered a gate that read: Great Wall of China! Now there was no trees to be used for shade but bright sunlight reflecting off concrete between endless greenery. The sight was one to behold and acknowledged for it beauty. I did think that once we were on the wall we could just walk, but of course there had to be another something to climb. It was a walk way mixed with actual steps that led you to a tower above. I was taking a break and sat on the wall while my husband decided to run up and see what was on the other side. He came running back down saying that I have to come and see the views and that it would be worth it.
The rest of the walk was super easy and I was happy that there were not many people on the wall. Since it was connected to our hotel it was for private use only. The wall is over 21,000km in length. Something I found on Google: “Did you know? When Emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered construction of the Great Wall around 221 B.C., the labor force that built the wall was made up largely of soldiers and convicts. It is said that as many as 400,000 people died during the wall’s construction; many of these workers were buried within the wall itself.” Now this was not something I was thinking about when walking along the wall or even stopping to sit and appreciate the magnificent view. As far as your eye can see do you see the wall stretch beyond and behind you.
After the walk and hike back down (which went must smoother than going up), we came across a film shoot. In my first blog post about this China trip I shared how it came about and how addicted I have been to Chinese and Korean series. Now what presented itself to me after the walk down was an actual film set with real Chinese actors. I was so awestruck that I had to pause because I wanted to run on set and just have a closer look. My husband had to stop me and remind me that they might not appreciate me just being an extra on their set. We walked slowly passed them and I got to see the main actors sitting in the shade on those directors chairs. Even though I just got a tick on my bucket list, this was my highlight of the visit to the Great Wall of China. The film crew was around and filmed a couple of scenes which I got to watch from afar.
Once we got back to the hotel we had ice cream and coca cola in an air-conditioned lounge. We decided to go for a swim and chill by the pool before having an early supper. That evening I had a good sleep and dreamt about the movie set…
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