A Half Day Tour To The Great Wall Of China
A visit to China will not be complete without the tour to the Great Wall
. For thousands of years, the wall had been the symbol of China, its great historic and powerful past, and later, its isolation under the era of bamboo curtain, and now, it symbolizes China's rise to become a dominant worlds power, both militarily and economically.The best way to visit the wall is from Beijing. This is one of the reasons why Beijing is the preferred tourist destination. Based on my personal experience a few years ago, it only took us about 2 hours drive from the hotel. A half day tour is sufficient. You may opt to go by the hotels group tour or you can charter your own transport. If you were to go by your own transport, you will have the flexibility of time; otherwise you will need to comply with the bus tour schedule.
The sight of the wall is staggering. The wall is about 25 feet height and about 20ft across and it is not an engineering precision, so some parts are higher or wider than the others. The portion that I visited is built on top of the ridge, and it is rather hard to imagine how they managed to build such a long and strong wall, considering the technology the had.
When you consider the total length of over 6000 km, I could easily imagine the suffering of the workers, the peasants and slaves that had to endure the cruelty and punishment. Today, I am not so sure of which element of the history to be remembered, was it the marvels of the engineering works or the suffering and death of the thousands who had helped to build the walls.
Reaching to the top was by chair lifts, like the ones used by the skiers at the resorts. It was a bit scary when you have to travel for a twenty minutes ride with a three year old daughter in an open ride. I believe the safety had been improved now, as more and more western tourists are visiting China. You have to pay for the ride and the entry fee to the wall.
Walking on top of it is just like walking on an empty road. Of course the ground was uneven. Every 100 meters or more, you will find some sort of living quarters for the guards.
There were some peddlers selling souvenirs and a couple of photographers with old cameras offering service. An array of clothing can be rented for the photography session, you can dress up as the emperor of China or as the invading warriors. There were other selections available. If you choose to buy any items or the photography services, haggling is the norm in China. It is good idea to ask the hotel personnel before your trip on the reasonable amount you should be paying.
The Great Wall of China stretches to a length of over 6,000 kilometers winding through mountains, cliffs, plateaus and deserts from across the east coast to the northwest of China. Some parts of it had started to break down and some portions are maintained by authorities mainly as a tourist attraction.
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