The Great China Wall

The Great Wall covers over 5000 miles from eastern China to the deserts in the west. This is somewhat like travelling from New York to Los Angeles and back. Considering the wall was started over 2000 years ago like the Roman and Egyptian periods, the wall was an incredible feat to accomplish.

A lot of the structures follow mountainous ridges with the wall extending up another 20-23 feet on average. The area at the top of the wall is around 15 feet wide. About every ¼ mile along the wall a watchtower was built where the Chinese could defend their territory.

The top of the wall was constructed with many barriers, uneven steps and steep slopes to prevent an enemy from moving quickly along the structure. The spacing of the watchtowers was made to allow their warriors to shoot bow and arrows half the distance between towers. In this way, 2 watchtowers would be able to defend their position.

I saw the Great Wall initially as a tourist doing a side trip out of Beijing. This part of the wall has been improved and receives up to 10 million visitors a year. I remember thinking how incredible the wall was but within a 2-mile stretch, thousands of tourists walking shoulder to shoulder did not appeal to me. I spoke to our guide and learned about some other areas that are accessible, but few tourists ever see.

I’ve had the good fortune to travel to the Great Wall several times since that original trip and have explored it in all four seasons. My most memorable visit was to the Village of Jingshanling. In doing some research about the area, I learned about a regional photographer named Zhou Wanping who grew up in that village. With the help of a friend in Beijing that I had met on a prior trip, we were able to contact Mr. Wanping and to my astonishment he offered to let me stay in a room in his home during my stay. I was able to hear stories of him playing at the wall when he was a child and he shared many of his iconic photographs with me.

This area of the wall has some incredible views and at times you feel you are walking on top of the world. During some of the difficult hikes on the wall I would rest in some of the multi-story watchtowers. In these times, my mind would try to imagine what life in this tower was 1000 years ago. They were a peaceful retreat for me without seeing another person for many hours. I started using my camera to preserve my memories and this visit to the Wall is one of my favorites.