Take-Aways

The Great Wall, which the Chinese, with their tendency to call “a spade, a spade” actually call the “Long” wall, is not particularly ornate, nor particularly beautiful, but it takes your breath away. It’s the result of sheer effort, more than anything a triumph of persistence and endurance and it just goes on and on and on as far as your eyes can see and as you well know, even further. It commands awe and respect as only something as ruthless as that can. I think that is what makes it so special, its ruthlessness. Nothing stops it. Not the layout of the land nor the difficulty of the terrain. At times it seems not even the law of physics. It has decided to ride on a particular mountain crest and it just follows it no matter what. Have you seen how ants just follow a certain course no matter what obstacles they find in front of them? They ripple and expand and seem to come from all directions but with a purpose. The Great Wall has the determination of a colony of ants with the power of a bulldozer and the authority of an emperor. It takes the breath away and then it makes you gulp. You can see how it could have protected a nation. Imagine being an invading cavalry in the middle of nowhere trying to make your way across some very inhospitable mountains and coming across this man made monster. How could you invade a people with this kind of will power? It is this force of history that you can trek for 10km on a section that runs from Jinshanling to Simatai. I went on a Sunday morning. The distance from Beijing is short but the drive is long and we arrive at Jinshanling aroung midday. I have done justice to the Wall’s power but not to its beauty. At the top of Jinshanling, looking at the surrounding mountain rage it feels as though on is on the middle of a rough sea. The mountains look like green waves. Not smooth and even but the kind of waves we get when the wind is fickle and constantly changes it’s mind about which way to blow. It looks like waves of a sea that is disturbed but not angry. The Wall chooses to crown some of these waves like foam, the surf between man and mountain. It’s only 10 km or a 30tower distance but it takes about 3 hours. At times the climb is very steep and it is hot. There is no one else. They have all rushed ahead and it’s a delight to be on the Wall in silence. And just when you think you have taken it all in, the Simatai section of the Wall comes slowly into view and punches you in the stomach. Undoubtedly, it’s its most dramatic part. Just like a rollercoaster the towers dive into the nearby stream. Steep, very steep. Nearly vertical. And here I finally understand the Chinese expression “green hills, clear waters”. It means amazing scenery and all around, that is exactly what I see.