A Toboggan Ride On The Great Wall

It was below zero degrees and the sun had barely peeped above the horizon when we got out of bed. But today was the day. We were going to visit the Great Wall Of China.

It was colder than I had ever experienced. I was wearing so many layers that I could barely walk. The wind was icy, and being outside was painful.

My mum, dad, younger sister and I piled into a car outside our Beijing hotel. It was warm inside, and when we finally arrived we had to force ourselves to open the doors and get out. There were vendors selling souvenirs, but the cold kept them huddled inside their stalls.

It was quite a distance to the top of the wall, which was perched above us on a huge hill. But there was an easy solution for that. A chairlift. The traditional method of transportation we all joked.

The view when we made it to the top was breathtaking. On every side was a rural landscape of trees and bushes that looked much as it would have when the Great Wall was built. The stone pathway stretched for thousands of miles in each direction, twisting and turning through the countryside.

We started to walk along the wall, up staircases and through watchtowers. We occasionally saw another tourist, but most of the time it was just us. We stopped and took photos of each other, we pointed out landmarks, but mostly we just took it all in. Eventually the cold caught up with us, and we decided to head back to our warm car.

If we had thought the chairlift was fun, our descent would be even better. A toboggan slide.

I’m sure there are other options for getting down off the wall. Perhaps another chairlift. But I can’t imagine anything more fun than zipping along a track in a small toboggan next to the Great Wall Of China.

As the eldest child I chose to go first. The toboggan was controlled with a lever, and it had two speeds: super fast or super slow. I sped along the metal slide, sometimes feeling like I was close to tipping out but enjoying the bends in the track all the same.

Within minutes I had made it back to the bottom of the Wall. It was such a distinctly unexpected experience that I almost wanted to climb back up to the top and try it again. It was the perfect ending to our magical trip to the Great Wall of China.

Tips
- The Great Wall of China is an easy day trip from Beijing. The section we visited was called Mutianyu
- To beat the crowds arrive early in the day
- Hire a private driver to take you to the Great Wall. This can be arranged by your hotel in Beijing