After a brief stop at the Beijing International Kongfu School, where students try their hand at following instruction and demonstrations of martial arts, our last full day in Beijing is an excursion two hours to the north of Beijing to the Mutianyu Great Wall.
The Great Wall is, of course, one of the wonders of the world with sections dating back to the fifth century B.C. and completion in the second century B.C. While the claim that it can be seen from outer space is dubious, our guide assures us that what is true is that the Wall can be regarded as the world’s longest cemetery since so many who labored on it are buried within its pounded earth interior. The Mutianyu section of the Wall is durably constructed and consists of towers with regal proportions and fine masonry stone work. (On the other hand, Kenneth would not be happy with the wildly varying heights and depths of the stone steps. In fact, “walking” the Wall is really a misnomer; much of it is more like climbing.)
No one needs convincing that the Great Wall is a wonder of the world. There is nothing like it. Even the usual gaggle of souvenir vendors cannot get in the way of how impressive it is as it snakes its way across the rugged, rocky mountain ridge tops. I’m sure it’s as close to the top of the world as I am going to get. Some of the students have hiked up to the Wall on a separate trip and camped overnight in sleeping bags in below freezing temperatures. But most arrive a day after and take a spectacular cable car ride up to the battlements. There is a choice of toboggan run down or chair lift. I take an open-air chair lift down that is like jumping off a cliff.
The countryside to and from the Wall is snow-bound farmland and orchards that remind me, again, of the landforms in Hot Springs in North Carolina. But the hardscrabble existence we see in the small towns is much more primitive. On the other hand, the government is, once again, seeking to develop visitor and vacation facilities near the Great Wall with the intent of providing employment for nearby local communities. We also observe a sign for a Russian construction company and a number of Russian tourists. That reminds us how much closer we are to the old boundaries of the Soviet Union on the north side of the Republic’s capitol.
On our last evening in Beijing we go see a world-acclaimed acrobatic troupe that is truly amazing. No point in describing. You’d have to be there to appreciate.
I also won’t go into detail about the amount of forewarning the students get for the next morning’s early 0445 departure for the airport. Suffice to say that many go directly from their night-out to a shower to the bus without breaking stride. As they say, youth is wasted on the young. As Kenneth aptly says, he’d forgotten how much work being young was.