The Great Wall of the World

Jeg tog omkring 300 billeder i løbet af de fire timer, vi spenderede på Muren. Alligevel er der kun et fåtal, der faktisk vidner bare lidt om, hvor smukt det var. Jeg ville sådan ønske, at der fandtes kameraer, der kunne skyde et billede præcis som vi ser det med vores øjne. Med alle detajlerne, kontrasterne, skyggerne.. Men desværre findes der ikke noget kamera i hele verden, der kan gengive det syn, som betog os.

Vi fandt et perfekt sted at spise vores medbragte frokost fra 7 Eleven bestående af nudler (hvad ellers), og lige der, ved Jinshanling-delen af Muren, der var udsigten og billedet helt perfekt.
Ingen mennesker, helt vindstille, tåge og smog i horisonten.
Det var perfektion.
Hvad jeg ikke ville gøre for at kunne fange det på kamera ned til mindste detajle. Jeg, der ellers næsten altid rejser alene, må godt nok indrømme, at jeg er så glad for, at jeg delte oplevelsen med en anden sjæl. Man er nødt til at have en, der kan lægge øre til, hvor fantastisk man synes, det er.

Vi (Laura og jeg, en dansk pige jeg var så heldig at falde over på Instagram et par uger inden jeg ankom til Kina) tog bussen fra Wangjing West-stationen, som har en busstation tilknyttet (exit C fra metroen - jeg kunne ikke finde den, så jeg endte med at gå ud, og så følge menneskemængden over på den anden side af vejen. Der er ret øde derude, så der er ikke så meget at gå efter!) hvis nogen er interesserede, til Jinshanling delen af Muren, som ligger 2 timer væk i bus. Det er helt klart en mere uturistet måde at gøre det på, og jeg vil helt klart foretrække denne del af Muren fremfor eksempelvis Badaling og Mutianyu. Vi mødte maks 30 mennesker og der var mange tidspunkter, hvor vi ikke kunne spotte et andet menneske fra vores position. Jeg har ikke hørt gode ting om de sektioner, der er tættere på Beijing, da der naturligvis er flere mennesker, der besøger de dele pga. afstanden og det, at den er meget let tilgængeligk da den er blevet fuldt restaureret. Jinshanling er et rigtig godt bud! Billigt og behageligt. Der var liiiige langt nok derop, tænkte vi, da vi ankom. Det så ud af meget. Vi skulle op af mange trapper, igennem en jungle. Men der gik alligevel kun 15 minutter, og så var vi på toppen. Det hele tog lige lidt ekstra tid, da en meget ivrig lokal sælger prøvede at udnytte de godtroende turister. "Håndlavet", var hendes salgspitch. Håndlavet af en maskine, måske. Jeg så det præcis samme tasker i en million andre butikker, så det var ikke godt nok! Jeg fik mig dog tilsneget en billig magnet. Lidt turist er man vel?

There is no possible way in which I, or anyone for that matter, could ever capture this beauty with a camera. Words might do the trick, but I am not yet that eloquent. I wish I was. But all I can say is.. wauw. Holy muthafucking wauw. I believe this is what I muttered for the entirety of the four hours we spent on the wall, and even now, if I try to imagine being there all over again, it's still all I can say. It was amazing. Breathtaking. I was in awe. We both were. The natural beauty that surrounds the wall compliments it perfectly. I mean, the Great Wall of China is just a.. a wall, right? But it looks like, and feels like, something big. Something truly great. It feels ancient, it feels like history. China is indeed a great nation, but more than anything, China's an ancient nation, and you feel it, when you're on the Wall. It's beautiful.

I went with a fellow Dane that I got to talk to on Instagram a few weeks before I arrived. We visited the Jinshanling section of the Wall, and I honestly couldn't have thought of a better setup. Almost no people and we ended up talking to almost all of the people we met. Mostly, they wanted to pose for a photo with us. We were in China, after all. You just gotta go with the flow. This part of the Wall hasn't been restored as much as the more popular parts, such as Badaling. There were some pretty steep hills and some very uneven steps. But as long as you bring sturdy shoes, you'll be fine. We hiked with an older Chinese man for some time, politely exchanging smiles and the famous 'I hope we all get through this in one piece'-looks. It was nice. No language was needed. Just gestures. 

So, to sum up, anyone who's able to dedicate their entire day to climbing the Wall, go to Jinshanling. Take the bus from the bus station opposite the Wangjing West metro station (exit C), walk until you see a sign that says "Jinshanling Great Wall Scenic Area" or something (might be worded differently, but we had no trouble finding it). We expected a huge queue when we got there at 7.30am, but we were less than 10 people when the bus left. I never figured out exactly how much this bus was, but most websites say it's 32RMB one way and I think that's accurate. If you have a Beijing subway card, give it to the driver and they might give you a discount. I'm pretty sure there are busses running every half hour from 7am or at least this is what I read on a lot of different sites before taking the trip myself, but to be on the safe site, aim for the 8am designated tourist bus that'll take you directly to the ticket booth which is the closest you'll get to the actual wall. It leaves from the plaza in front of the ticket booth where it dropped you off at 3pm. This gives you about 4 hours to climb the wall and enjoy the view, which is plenty of time. You'll be back in Beijing at around 5pm. And you've just had the most amazing day ever. Enjoy!