长城 The Great Wall of China

I MADE IT TO THE GREAT ALL OF CHINA

Pinch me, I'm dreaming. In the twenty years I've been on this earth, I've already made it to the Great Wall of China. Unbelievable. 

While I didn't have time to hike all 13,171 miles of it. My friends and I definitely went over as much of it as we could. 

At first we stuck to the section we were supposed to. It was wonderfully restored. While I have no idea on the distance of the restored section we were on - I do know that we sadly didn't get to hike all of it. The entrance to the wall is more or less in the middle; most people were going to the left, so we decided to go the wall less traveled and head right. So, off we were! The stairs had a personality of their very own - some short, some steep, some crooked, some straight. For the first time in a long time I actually liked the stairs as they were. You could tell where different people were working on different sections (when the wall was being built) that way. 

At this point (yes, the point where my friend Danny and I are being way to obnoxious)we thought we made it to the end of where we could go. Until a nice European (who I might add, was being more obnoxious than Danny and I)told us there were no barriers or signs saying we couldn't go to the unrestored part. Now I know there are a lot of people out there that are firm rule followers. No matter the lack of barriers, signs, guards, they would not have crossed the line between restored and unrestored. To be honest, I used to be like that before I came to China. In China, I've learned you need to take a risk everyday. The risk can be minor, like trying to cross the streets of Wudaokou (五道口). Or, the risk can be large, 比如说 (for example)hiking an unrestored section of the Great Wall of China. 

Knowing it was our time to be true explorers, we hiked on. It was the most surreal moment I've ever experienced. In my opinion, the unrestored piece was much more beautiful than the restored. The unrestored piece was really in wonderful condition; it really goes to show how much work and effort people put into making The Wall. 

When my group finally got to our personal ending point, we chatted about the beauty of the nature around The Wall, and of course The Wall itself. Right when it was getting really cheesy, I see Zack and Julian's faces pop up by my feet! Those two silly boys had been following us on the ground and actually climbed all the way up the wall! 

Before it was time to start hiking back down the wall, we snagged a quick DU shot :)

The hike down didn't take as long as we thought it would. So we were able to do a little shopping in the bazaar at the bottom. While I can't say what I bought (simply because it's a piece of my brothers b-day present) I can say I got it for 1/5 of the original cost! I like to think of myself as the bargaining queen. Shout out of thanks to the original bargaining queen, Nancy Levine, for showing me how it's done. As far as finds of the day, that award goes to my swag team member, Zack Brown. He found this gem. 

xoxo,
公主雷洁