The Great Wall (Mu Tian Yu) - 长城 (幕田峪)
On April 26, 2006, the school organized a free trip for our class to the Great Wall. There are 4 well-known sites which you can visit the Great Wall - Ba Da Ling, Mu Tian Yu, Si Ma Tai, and Shi Xia Guan. I've been to Si Ma Tai in 2001 and found it absolutely breath-taking. For this trip, we went to the Mu Tian Yu which is about an hour away from Beijing. It's supposedly not as crowded as the popular Ba Da Ling so it's a bit more peaceful. At Si Ma Tai, the wall was left unrestored but Mu Tian Yu has reconstructed parts of the wall so you can see the what it should look like in its full glory. Here's a picture of the Si Ma Tai wall from my 2001 trip so you can compare:
As I arrived at the Mu Tian Yu location, I was once again amazed by how long the wall is! It just goes on forever...it's so...great. Instead of taking the cable car up, my class decided to walk up the mountain to see the wall. The stairs were killer and went on forever as well...should be called the great stairs. It wasn't very interesting to climb them either since there was not really much to see. 
As I reached the top, I have to admit, Mu Tian Yu didn't have the same impact as Si Ma Tai. I'm not sure why....maybe it was because it was the second time I was seeing it or maybe it's because there wasn't a nice blue sky that day. Most probably it was because Si Ma Tai was in a more remote location and seemed to have a more natural, peaceful atmosphere. 
Don't get me wrong though, this location was still impressive. You stand on the wall and can't help think about all the history behind this wall, how many people died building it, and how the hell they got all the bricks up the mountains to build this!! The best thing about this trip was that it was a very good opportunity to get to know my classmates outside the classroom and I believe we all took advantage of it.
We really began to bond on this day. We all opened up a bit more and took pictures together. Mu Tian Yu also has very steep sections which you must climb. Yes, there are stairs but in most cases, they were slanted and some steps felt like they were designed for a giant. You really had to take a break sometimes to catch your breath.
As I was taking my breaks, I couldn't help but stare at the length of the wall in amazement. Seriously, how did they build this thing??! Unfortunately, since this was a school trip, we couldn't stay for a long time. We were given about an hour and a half. I was so obsessed with seeing more of the wall that I tried to run part of it.....I think my body will never forgive me for that.
Eventually, time was running out so we had to make our way down. As I was walking down, I noticed a slide which you can take to go down the mountain. This was obviously put there to make money off the tourists. I've included a picture but I'm not sure you'll be able to make it out since there's a lot of trees in the way. I have to admit, it looked kind of fun. ;-)
As I arrived at the Mu Tian Yu location, I was once again amazed by how long the wall is! It just goes on forever...it's so...great. Instead of taking the cable car up, my class decided to walk up the mountain to see the wall. The stairs were killer and went on forever as well...should be called the great stairs. It wasn't very interesting to climb them either since there was not really much to see. 
As I reached the top, I have to admit, Mu Tian Yu didn't have the same impact as Si Ma Tai. I'm not sure why....maybe it was because it was the second time I was seeing it or maybe it's because there wasn't a nice blue sky that day. Most probably it was because Si Ma Tai was in a more remote location and seemed to have a more natural, peaceful atmosphere. 
Don't get me wrong though, this location was still impressive. You stand on the wall and can't help think about all the history behind this wall, how many people died building it, and how the hell they got all the bricks up the mountains to build this!! The best thing about this trip was that it was a very good opportunity to get to know my classmates outside the classroom and I believe we all took advantage of it.
We really began to bond on this day. We all opened up a bit more and took pictures together. Mu Tian Yu also has very steep sections which you must climb. Yes, there are stairs but in most cases, they were slanted and some steps felt like they were designed for a giant. You really had to take a break sometimes to catch your breath.
As I was taking my breaks, I couldn't help but stare at the length of the wall in amazement. Seriously, how did they build this thing??! Unfortunately, since this was a school trip, we couldn't stay for a long time. We were given about an hour and a half. I was so obsessed with seeing more of the wall that I tried to run part of it.....I think my body will never forgive me for that.
Eventually, time was running out so we had to make our way down. As I was walking down, I noticed a slide which you can take to go down the mountain. This was obviously put there to make money off the tourists. I've included a picture but I'm not sure you'll be able to make it out since there's a lot of trees in the way. I have to admit, it looked kind of fun. ;-)
posted by Jeff at
9:19 p.m.
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