A Pretty Great Wonder in the World

There is one thing in China that, if we would not have done it, would have voided our entire trip. What I am talking about is, of course, a trip to the Great Wall of China.

It was a crisp winter day, with emphasis on crisp. The cold was quite overwhelming, but that did not cloud our spirits. Besides, we were blessed with a beautiful crisp day, the hazy pollution of the days before having all been blown away by a benevolent arctic wind.
Jenn and I travelled to the Wall with our good friend and family away from home Kym Froelich. Since we were able to use the services of a drive, the usually long trek out to the wall was notably reduced in time.

I will mostly let the pictures speak for themselves. Let it be said that the view of the wall was spectacular and majestic. It is amazing considering that this was built by hand, and sobering to hear how many people died in the never finished effort of building this wall. Some parts of the wall are preserved from the original build, but much of it is new. This makes a visit to the wall all the more interesting, as you can see where the new and the old meet, if you look hard enough.

The New & Old

The day was beautiful and the wall mesmerizing. Truth be told, it made me excited for our planned marathon on said wall. Walking on history and one of the wonders of the world, one can't help but feel connected to a great part of humanity that usually remains more distant from our daily lives.

Of course we had to end our historically significant trip on the wall on a light note, and thus we opted for a descent not on the hiking trial, but on an alpine slide contraption. Sitting in a plastic sled, we sped down the hill in a metal half pipe. Disregarding the official reminders to slow down, we enjoyed this descent immensely, and might I add that our friend Kym was by far the fastest!