Joseph's Blog Post

There is an ancient Chinese proverb that says "to be a true man and hero, you must climb the Great Wall." That challenge was met with great fortitude and energy by the BC High team and was thusly conquered. Just like any other day, it started in the morning. We piled into the bus and drove to the start location for our long trek. Once we had bought our tickets we began what we later learned to be the most difficult leg of our journey. The only way to describe the next forty-five minutes: stairs. The Great Wall sits high in the mountains and we were at the bottom. The only way to go was upwards. We climbed and climbed, with no end in sight. The road was just a giant flight of stairs winding its way up the mountain. Each of us wondered how anyone could possibly climb that many stairs. After a good forty-five minutes we made it to a sight that took everyone's breath away. Before us, winding its way on the top of mountains, from the horizon on the right into the horizon on the left was the Great Wall. Even I, who has been to the Great Wall, stood in awe of the sight. The actual Great wall differed from what we were expecting. A few of my classmates expected the wall to be higher. At least three of my friends had expected the wall to be flat. The wall was far from flat. The long construction wound its way through mountains and valleys like an undulating river. The guard towers rose high into the sky only to disappear in the mist that obscured the far regions from our eyes. The magnificent monolith stretched much father than we could ever see or comprehend. After the long climb up the mountain, we rested and admired the awesome sight. The magnitude of the wall astounded us and created the sense of great awe for the millions of people that were tasked to build the great construction. We could not even fathom how the builders dragged the huge stone blocks up the mountain and then built the wall that stretches over 6,500 km long. As we stared at the awesome sight before us, we were reminded of the riches and experience that comes with traveling to China. After regaining our breath, we started on our journey on the Great Wall. There are no words to describe the great beauty of the mountains and valleys that surrounded the wall. The scene was breathtaking, with magnificent forests on mountainsides that disappeared into the mists that emerged from the horizon. Only once being there can one truly encompass the greatness of the scenery. The wall itself was an adventure in its own way. The path on top of the wall consisted of a variety of terrains, from stair going up and down, to slopes of all degrees and lengths. No part of the journey was truly the same. Ahmad and I decided to press on, ahead of the main group, as to be at the forefront of the expedition. From this forward vantage point, we were able to truly appreciate the feeling of walking on the wall. While the trek itself was not too difficult, it was not without obstacles. The path would curve upward only to yield to a sharp descent made up of stairs. The precipice on either side of the walls ramparts caused everyone to take extra caution when descending the sleeps slopes. For over an hour and a half we traveled, making sure to greet all that we met on the way, whether it be another tourist or a local merchant selling goods on the wall. We all marveled what it would be like to get up every morning and climb the great wall to sell our wares. These merchants were kind enough to supply us with enough water to make the trip without the danger of dehydration. The travel was thoroughly enjoyable as with our guide, who we called Frank, we were able to experience the wall to its fullest. Unfortunately, the hiking could not last forever. We finished our trek and began to descend at a different point than we started. Here we were besieged by the local vendor. One such vendor followed Ahmad trying to sell a shirt to him for several minutes. After a warning from Ms. Maguire to the merchants, we were finally able to extricate ourselves from their attention. On the last part of our journey, we were able to be rejoined by Mrs. Chen, who had stayed behind and not been with us on the Great Wall, and finished our long journey. The experience was agreed upon to be greatest that we have had so far. The view and adventure was the highlight of the week.