The Great Wall of China. Priceless experience.

Before I decided to apply for this trip to China, the thought of making a trip to Asia had never really crossed my radar. Yes, it was something that I hoped to do as an adult one day, but I didn't think that the opportunity would come to me so soon.

Now, I sit here after just completing one of the most incredible days of my life in China, a day full of accomplishments that I don't think I've ever been more proud of. Today, we were picked up by a shuttle at our hotel, and were taken to the Great Wall of China.

The Great Wall of China...over 2,000 years old, a series of fortifications built to protect the Chinese empire, 5,500 MILES long of walls and trenches, one of the seven wonders of the Medieval world...and I climbed it today.

There are many different sections of the wall that you are able to climb, but our tour guide chose to take us to Juyong Pass which is known as one of the hardest and most dangerous sections to climb. Luckily we all wore our tennis shoes because it was one of the most strenuous hikes of my life. It was definitely not what any of us expected- every time we got to the top of one flight of steps (which were all uneven and spaced SUPER far apart) we would be panting heavily. And every time you reached a guard tower and thought it was the top, there was always one more flight of stairs. It probably took us about an hour to finally reach the top, but the climb was more than worth it. Standing at the top of the Great Wall of China, looking out over beautiful mountains and seeing other sections of the Great Wall far in the distance was a lifechanging experience. We were all so proud of ourselves for making it to the top and looked around in awe at our surroundings. We took a TON of pictures (some are on here but check Emily's Flickr account later today for the rest). Our tour guide Hope was a huge help in giving us the facts on the history of the Great Wall. She told us that when it was first being built, at least 1/5 of the population of China was enlisted to help build it. Imagine how many people and how much time it must have taken...it truly is incredible.

The climb down was pretty cool since we were able to concentrate less on climbing and just take in everything around us. I'll be honest, once we reached the bottom, all of our legs were shaking in exhaustion. I am beyond glad that our tour guide had taken us so early because once we began to reach the bottom, hundreds of people had just began the climb upwards. We were lucky enough to have almost the entire wall to ourselves on the way up. At the bottom, we all looked through the gift shop for awhile before heading onto the shuttle. Since it was only about 10:30 in the morning, our group decided to spend the rest of the day at the Summer Palace. Greatest decision EVER.


I don't have enough time to write about it now- but check later today for another blog. I promise it's something you don't want to miss hearing about :)