Buried in a Wall

So we just got done with a great ancient city so how do we keep going!? How about a great wall?

The Great Wall of China

This sucker is huge! It's over 21,000 km long and has been standing for more than 2,300 years! I have had the opportunity to see the wall for myself and when you are standing on one end and have no idea how far it goes on, you can be stuck in awe. Being the ignorant little nine year old I was, I remember being absolutely convinced I could walk/bike the whole thing with ease... I was either very stupid or very hopeful.

It's reaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllyyyyyyyy looooooooooongggggggggg

Since 1644 (after the Ming Dynasty was overthrown), work on the wall ceased. There has been restoration work done on the wall since 1957, but none of it has been done with military intentions, all were for the sole reason of tourism and preserving history. In December of 1987 the Great Wall was even placed on the World Heritage List UNESCO.

It's not always continuous either!

Another thing that's cool, but most people don't even consider, is that the wall is not continuous all the way through! There are plenty of parts where the Chinese Dynasty decided that mountains and rivers did the job for the wall. There are also places fortified with circular loops and parallel walls. This was the location of many battles so military stratagem was of importance. The wall was so important that it continued to be built for six dynasties! And when one person died while building the wall they were simply absorbed by the wall... no joke, it is thought that 400,000 people are buried within the wall...

With 400k buried in it, I feel like the wall could be really
creepy on some nights... Just imagine the Ghost Stories !!

There are so many wonders that come with the Great Wall, but one thing you must watch out for is the simple fact that you are a tourist. And tourist means money. And people try to take that money.
While I was visiting China the one thing that got me were the beggars...

Now we all have the neighborhood homeless we've seen or the beggars that stay on the corner of the street asking for food, money, or some other item, but these might have been the most aggressive beggars I have ever seen in my life. Now I'm not saying they tackled anyone to the ground, or that we were frequently pick pocketed out of our belongings, but they did manage to almost scare my mother to death when they decided that my seven year old sister looked old enough to buy a hand crocheted scarf and pulled her over to their booth. Needless to say, we were linked for the rest of the day like the chain of day care kids you see walking around campus every once in a while.

courtesy of wikipedia

The Great Wall is definitely not the only thing to check out if you make your way to China, but its definitely one you should keep on your radar. There are some AMAZING restaurants, including a Mongolian BBQ style place (where you cook your own food in front of you) that I can never seem to forget (but alas I can never remember the name....). The tiny villages are also very tranquil and an experience just to see! Overall China was a pretty cool place, just watch your wallets (and small children if you have some with you).