This is one wall which unites rather than divides. Yes, the great wall of China gathers the world to see it. We managed to explore and walk a small stretch of this extraordinary construction at Mutianyu. They say one can see the Great Wall from space (actually one can’t) but who wants to try to do that when it’s so much better to touch and walk along it!

The Great Wall is everything it’s cracked out to be and more. It’s simply awesome and once you set your foot on this stone dragon-serpent weaving its way up and down some of the most beautiful mountain landscapes you feel you’d like to walk on and on…and on.

There are people who have done this but it would take some months since the wall and its tributaries is over 5,500 miles long. China’s state administration of cultural relics states that the wall is actually 13,170 miles long! The problem about measuring the great wall is that some parts of it get eroded or have their bricks removed for building houses, parts of it get rediscovered after lying under the northern desert sands and parts are being restored.

There are over 7000 watch towers punctuating the wall. I think we managed to get through about ten of them. No matter. The day of our visit was splendidly blue and we truly enjoyed our experience on what must be mankind’s biggest construction project.

Started around 1000 bc in the Qi dynasty the wall was continuously added to up to the end of the Ming dynasty in 1644 ad. It was the terracotta army emperor who conceived the idea of one great wall by joining up the various sections already in existence.

One might ask how many troops were required to defend the wall against Mongol invaders. Apart from the obvious answer, a lot, one needs to add that the wall served as a customs barrier and communications network. It was both a barrier and a message line.

It was wonderful to walk our little bit of the wall, admire the construction, view the lovely scenery and come across people from all over the world. I thought about those who feel that buildings walls is about keeping people out. I felt quite the opposite on the Great Wall.

Before leaving the wall area we explored a very disneylandish cave.

The evening was taken up by some great food including Peking duck and a spectacular acrobatics show.

We were now approaching the end of our Chinese adventure and we still had to enter into the forbidden city….