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It’s time to make our way to that landmark of landmarks, that destination of all destinations in China---the Great Wall. Leaving Beijing, the quickest and the easiest way to get to the Great Wall is to come here, to Badaling. Just climb a few stairs, elbow your way, pass a few tourists and you’ll get your first glimpse. Of cause this is one of the all-time iconic travel destinations like the great pyramids in Egypt, but there is a reason for it. The great wall is magnificent. There is no question about it. It’s worth all the hype. Few things’ matched to the ability to take you back in time or are you with its combination of human sacrifice and engineering? Steep steps in occasional 45 degree inclines will set your legs on fire. But making your way up to a guard tower is well worth it. The great wall at Badaling is beautiful, but also frankly, touristy and artificial.





















Luckily, I’d heard that more authentic sections of the great wall which is a road trip away. How can I resist that? So we threw our schedule to the wind, and plunged into a determined, adamant, single-minded quest to get away from the tourists’ dollars, carve replicas and soda shops.


















Awfully went, on a hinge that the good stuff was ahead of us. The ride at Beijing will bring you a slice of life you won’t see in the capital. This is the Chinese countryside, and on this journey, you’ll get an eye-full, a completely new vision of China. Let’s face it. This is where traveling gets good, where you take your turn and your forward path goes interestingly off the rails. I’ve been in some of the great destinations of the world and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it, but to tell the truth, often the best part is getting there.

















From cars to carts to horses, it’s all about the journey. Putting one foot in front of the other, always a step closer to something you can’t predict, territory you’ve never experienced and people you’ve never met. Case in point, the He family. He, these folks occasionally allowed the rare informed visitor to stay at their place on route on a secret path to the Great Wall. They’ll give you a meal and a place to stay, as long as you don’t mind sleeping like ten to a bed. And a track begins just outside their front door. You can see the destination looming above the trees.






From cars to carts to horses, it’s all about the journey. Putting one foot in front of the other, always a step closer to something you can’t predict, territory you’ve never experienced and people you’ve never met. Case in point, the He family. He, these folks occasionally allowed the rare informed visitor to stay at their place on route on a secret path to the Great Wall. They’ll give you a meal and a place to stay, as long as you don’t mind sleeping like ten to a bed. And a track begins just outside their front door. You can see the destination looming above the trees.









But be ready for some exercise. “This is really really, stunning, and just completely gorgeous hike, it’s really really beautiful up here.” It’s really a magnificent sight. When you get to the guard tower, more climbing on a rickety stack of unsecured bricks piled 30 plus high, but then pay off.



















But once you get here, it is so worth the trip, this place is absolutely magnificent. It’s the longest and best preserve section of the Great Wall. Stilling, it’s an original state. Nowhere else in China can you see something like this. Miles of the Great Wall, untouched since it was built. It’s also a rocky landscape, causing the guard towers to be placed closer together, so they could warn each other, in case of attack. Tirelessly man night and day, now the towers are often overrun with trees. Another absolutely amazing thing about this place is that almost nobody knows about it. This is where you come to see the Great Wall, the way it used to be. If you can make the journey, chances are you are gonna have the longest and best preserve section of the Great Wall, pretty much to yourself.
















The Wall is the longest structure ever built by man. On the one hand it’s ancient, but then again, something this imposing and monumental speaks to you. I mean, what was the Wall anyways, but a definition of borders, a shutting out of the enemy protection. That was centuries ago. But how is that so different from our world now? Walking along this piece of human history, somehow, it doesn’t feel so distant.


The Wall is the longest structure ever built by man. On the one hand it’s ancient, but then again, something this imposing and monumental speaks to you. I mean, what was the Wall anyways, but a definition of borders, a shutting out of the enemy protection. That was centuries ago. But how is that so different from our world now? Walking along this piece of human history, somehow, it doesn’t feel so distant.




Hey, is this the way back to Beijing?

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