In December 2006, I spent a couple of short days in Beijing and of course rushed to see the Great Wall of China. On that occasion, I only had time to go to Badaling, but the experience was truly breathtaking. It was a sunny, cold December day and the view was spectacular. The mountains were just so beautiful. Not to mention the wall itself! Definitely worth the trip there! However, I felt I was sharing this experience with a little too many. Not that I don't want to share such a fine experience, it's just that it was way too commercialized. Being offered a certificate every time I had climbed a set of stairs. And those ”I climbed The Great Wall of China” t-shirts were a little ironic when people could purchase them after taking the cable car up. Coming from three months alone in Guangdong, this was just a little too much tourism for me. Well, to each their own, but I just had appetite for a little more.

In 2008, I spent my summer holidays in China with my girlfriend and finally got the chance to continue where I had left off on my previous trip! We decided to take one day out of our stay in Beijing and go to the Great Wall, we just had to figure out which part to go to. Simatai, Gubekou, Mutianyu, Jinshanling or some other? Where to go? Luckily, we quickly came across a tour program that offered a drive to Jinshanling, an unescorted walk to the Simatai section of the wall and then back to the hotel. Arrangements were easy, the lady on the phone spoke good English. The price was 680 yuan. Kind of pricy, but it meant we'd avoid all the hassle of getting to the right place.

Early next morning, my phone rang and it was the nice lady: ”We're here at the hotel. You ready?” Shortly after that we were in the car, an old, beaten up Corolla, racing through the streets of Beijing. The driver was a young man who obviously didn't speak a word of English. I think his name was George. But that was irrelevant anyway. What was relevant was the way he drove his Corolla. He was driving with such courage and determination I thought I'd never see in a place like China. And even more miraculuosly, he was only honking when absolutely necessary. I started to think he might be a Dane trapped in a Chinese body. He didn't smoke in the car either. Accompanying him was the young Chinese girl from our phone call. She was talking a bit about this and that, but was quiet much of the time. So, we sat back in the worn seats and started double checking for cameras, water, money, sun lotion and all that stuff.

The landscape changed from regular old Chinese countryside to pretty mountainous. Our guide pointed excitedly at the horizon and said ”there's the Great Wall of China!” After some more driving we actually arrived at some buildings and signs that said Jin Shan Ling. And yes, there were also a few shops selling tourist crap, but not many. We stopped and said our goodbyes to our guides. But first, we double checked that we were actually able to call each other's mobiles. We would, after all, not see each other until five hours and more that ten kilometres later, far, far over the mountains.

My Mongolian friends. (Image: Radio86)We skipped the shops and headed directly for a restaurant hidden a bit away. We had one of the most delicious meals for only 24 yuan. Three dishes, tea and water. By the way, did I mention that we hadn't yet seen any foreigners here? With our bellies full, we decided to go for it. We paid the entry fee at the gate and someone pointed us in the right direction and we started trekking along some dirt path. The fact that there was no one around us only made me more convinced that this was the more authentic way of seeing the wall and only a little bit worried we were going in the wrong direction.

When we made it to the wall there were some ladies sitting there drinking water. We didn't take much notice of them and thought they might have been some Chinese tourists. They greeted us nicely ”Hello!” and we responded with a kind ”Ni Hao!” They seemed very interested in us and we ascended the wall together. When we had gotten up the steep stairs, we took some time to enjoy the view. This was really something! We could see the wall creeping along the ridges of the mountains and we knew that this was our route to Simatai. Pretty daunting! Just the climb onto the wall had been some effort. The nice Chinese ladies were offering to take our pictures with our camera and we were doing some small-talking with them in Chinglish. Of course we were tourists, but it really seemed like the real thing, whatever the definition of that term is...

Off we go!

Our little group started strolling along in a reasonable pace. First a flat part. Then a bit down some stairs. Then a bit up. And so forth... At first I was just going along, not really looking at the scenery or the architecture of the wall. When we reached the first tower on top of one of the cliffs, we were pretty smashed. We were panting and reached for our water bottles. The weather was hot and the air was clear by Beijing standards, so the sun was burning a bit, too. After catching our breath, we were once again able to enjoy the view and went on.

The views, and altitudes, are quite awe-inspiring. (Image: Radio86)As we made it along, we got more and more tired and the surface we tread on got worse and worse. We had by now had quite a few breaks and our travel companions had told us a bit about themselves. They were Mongolian farmers and lived just over the hill. Obviously, they were there because of us. They had been very helpful and were always lending a hand when we had trouble climbing the last couple of steps. A part of me felt betrayed that they were just there to make money off us, but they were actually very nice fellow hikers. And besides, we'd be lying if we said we hadn't needed a hand once in a while. These women told us that they got up at three or four in the morning, did almost a whole day's work at the farm and then went up to the wall to walk with tourists. They asked if we'd buy some souvenirs from them when we arrived at the end of this leg of the trip. Their story was so touching that even the toughest people probably couldn't say no. I couldn't. And wouldn't. Once again I was humbled by the conditions there compared to our Western life.

We were entering the Simatai section of the wall. This meant that we had to bid farewell to our trusted Mongolian companions. But this of course also meant ”Let's get to

Entering a new stretch of wall of course also meant a new entrance fee. The Simatai section is more popular and in better condition, which also meant it was more expensive. We also saw quite many tourists here compared to the handful we had seen on our trek.

We finally crossed a wooden suspension bridge that was not for the faint-hearted. It obviously also cost a small fee to cross the bridge. Having crossed the bridge, we only had the final little stretch of wall before we could descend to the Simatai tourist area. Here we were happy to find George and the Corolla waiting for us.

Driving away from the wall, I looked back at the topmost Wang Jing Lou, or "Watching Beijing Tower," which we had to skip, and decided that I definitely needed to come back to Simatai. And other parts of this Great Wall. To me, walking on the Great Wall of China is truly addictive. However, I don't quite know if I agree with Chairman Mao, who said ”He who has not climbed the Great Wall, is not a true man,” but I can recommend to everybody to see it.

The final part of the story is that on the way back, we were told we needed to stop at a tea house. We had read about this in the tourist guides and knew that now we would be forced to buy lots of tea, ceramics or other stuff. Since we didn't actually have much choice, we went along. We got three free bags of uninteresting tea, but refused to buy anything. That was okay, since we had agreed to hear about the prices. The tea house even gave George 100 yuan for petrol as part of the agreement to stop by the shop. George got us back to the hotel faster than any Beijing taxi could follow. Both his Corolla and our feet survived the trip. Thank you feet!