I'm still in China, but I'll be able to go home tomorrow.  I've had a chance over the last couple of days to do a little sightseeing, and I must say that I was really impressed with both the Forbidden City and the Great Wall.  The experience I had at the Great wall was particularly interesting and a little strange.

The Wall is surreal.  It's almost more difficult to believe in the reality of it when you're actually walking around on it than when you're just looking at pictures.  The section of the wall that I saw was not particularly tall (about 15 feet) nor particularly wide (only about 8-10 feet), but the way that the wall interacts with the local topography is nothing short of astonishing.  It rides up the sides of mountains and plunges down into valleys on the other side, draped over the highest peaks for as far as the eye can see in either direction, which (when you're standing on the higher parts) is a long long way.  The wall marches relentlessly to the peaks of hills and mountains and plunges precipitously into the valleys between them, heedless of the slopes it needs to conquerin the process. There are places where the grade of the flagstones is steeper than 45 degrees, and the wall only resorts to staircases where the land neccessitates an even steeper passage.  The steps themselves are often of dangerously difficult design, with risers of 12-16" not uncommon.  As I stood there gazing in disbelief at what the wall expected of it's human staff and visitors, I could not help but think that this was surely an idea that got out of hand.  I wondered if the people who had been responsible for the decision to build the wall had ever actually seen it, or seen the land upon which they decided to build it, or truly understood the scope of what this structure was expected to be.  Having been to the Forbidden City the day before and seen the circumscribed world of the Chinese Emperors and their courtiers, this idea did not seem all that far-fetched at the time.  I also thought that if I had been an ancient mongol warrior, I would have taken one look at the wall and turned around to go home since whoever would build such a thing must be hopelessly crazy.

And yet, this was not the most surreal part of my visit.

We went to see the wall at a place called Badalian, which is relatively close to Beijing and one of the most popular tourist attractions near the city. We also were there on a holiday weekend, so the wall was particularly crowded.  My hosts challenged me to walk with them to the highest point of the wall at Badalian - a place known as North Tower No. 8 - and I decided that it would be silly to come all this way and not at least make the attempt.  Evidently many visitors feel the same way, for though the climb is truly gruelling, thousands of visitors were gamely making the pilgrimage to the top.  The wall was in many places packed shoulder to shoulder with men, women, and children, the young and the old, Chinese and foreigners, ascending and descending along the same stretch of space.  So thick was this mass of humanity that on the way up, our progress was frequently interrupted by close-press traffic jams where we were literally wedged into the crowd, unable to move more than a few inches at a time, almost as if we were a phalanx of soldiers trying to press forward against an enemy defending the high towers from us.  However, once one reaches that highest tower one is doomed to a certain amount of disappointment, for it is bricked up and there is no way to enter it.

There is a certain sense of accomplishment that comes with making it to the top, to be sure.  Also, the view is amazing and the realization hits that this spot has the cleanest air this close to the industrial smog of Beijing. However, all that awaits one afterward is the equally difficult descent.  Luckily, there is a secondary route for descending the wall which is far less crowded, however it is even more diffcult than the ascent and my legs were just about useless by the time we reached the bottom once more.  I am glad to have had the experience, but I must be honest and say that I am in no hurry to repeat it.