Great Wall of China

Great Wall of China at Ba Da Ling: March 12, 2005

One of the attractions I was looking forward to was visiting the Great Wall. I think I speak for most visitors to China when I say this is something they really want to see. And why not? It is not called "the Great Wall" for nothing.

Great Wall

The Wall starts over in the middle of the desert to the West and crosses China proper until it meets the see about 30 miles north of Shanghai. As most everyone probably knows, it was built to keep the Khan from Mongolia in Mongolia and to prevent them from encroaching upon and raiding China.

Great Wall

Somethings I did not know:

The Wall was started in the 7th Century, BCE. It has been added to since that time by various other dynasties than the one that started building the Wall.
It is a World Heritage Site.
The government refurbishes and/or rebuilds sections of the Wall as it is a great tourist attraction. However, because of its World Heritage Site affiliation, the amount of what is refurbished or rebuilt is a small part of the Wall.
The Wall is not visibile from outer space. The Chinese government does not publicly refute this myth but being able to view the Wall from outer space would be like youseeing a piece of hair about 25 miles away from where you are.
Souvenir vendors even operate on the Wall. And that is a shame!

Great Wall

We spent about 2 hours at the Wall and it shops. Yes, there were more souvenir vendors down off the Wall; I will NEVER, after my experience here, buy anything from another souvenir vendor. They are rude, they take your money and won't give you your items, and they grab at you. Not to mention just plain hound you when they realize you are there.

Great Wall