The Great Wall at Mutianyu

Last Saturday all of the summer instructors went on a trip to see the great wall. We chose to go to Mutianyu rather than the more touristy Badaling, and had a wonderful time. It is possible to walk from the parking lot up to the wall, but it is an hour steep climb, so we opted to take the chair lift to the top. There were a few sketchy moments where my dangling feet brushed the tops of the weeds below, and my seat mate was the poor Chinese student who had been persuaded to go with us. He looked positively green when I turned around to wave at the people behind us. Apparently he’s not planning on skiing when he gets to Denver as a transfer student this fall!

I love that my guidebook said that Mutianyu was “relatively flat.” If Mutianyu was flat, I would be curious to see the climb at Badaling! We spent an hour or so climbing the steep stairs up to the top of this section of the wall, passing four guardhouses along the way. It was incredibly steep in places, and there were a few sections that almost required hands and feet to get up them. The view was beautiful, though, and it was fascinating to see a piece of history that was so old. Even though our section has been restored, it was easy to get the feel of the guards who lived atop the wall, looking out over the mountains for the Mongols to come. It must have been a lonely, but beautiful existence to spend so much time on the mountain peaks.

One of the other benefits of the Mutianyu site was the toboggan, or alpine slide that was an option for getting down from the wall. Like many alpine slides, it curves through the trees on the mountainside in a long slope to reach the bottom. Unlike many slides I’ve been on in the past, this slide was all slick metal. This made for a glorious descent, and you could get so much more speed than on any of the slides I’ve ever been on! It also made for a much more abrupt stop when I caught up with the people in front of me who weren’t going so fast, and due to the low quality Chinese brakes on my sled, I collided with Mike from our group in front of me. While he insists that his back has been fine, my toe turned a glorious shade of purple that is only now starting to fade. I am grateful that this post is NOT entitled “The great wall, and my first trip to a Chinese hospital,” but although it was very painful for a few days, it has recovered nicely.