Alone on beijing’s great wall

By Luke Sands

My summer adventure through the Middle Kingdom saw me tackle one of man’s greatest structures – the Great Wall of China. The strenuous 6-hour hike along the wall over the rolling mountains to the north of Beijing was, however, the least of my worries. The journey from Shanghai to Chenjiapu, the small rural village I would be staying in, was much more arduous.

The 1300km journey began in the late afternoon in one of Shanghai’s vast train stations, where I navigated the 30 platforms to eventually find my train: the slow, T110 sleeper train. A 17-hour journey lay ahead of me and I only had a hard seat on the aisle. Chinese locals, unable to afford the modern high-speed equivalent, filed into the carriage, filling the aisle and creating a claustrophobic atmosphere. I was beginning to swear at myself for buying the cheapest ticket on the market and thought that the journey would be the longest hours of my life. To some extent they were; the hole that served as a toilet was unpleasant, the stench of smoke filling the carriage as numerous passengers lit a cigarette was unbearable and the litter piling up from left over pot noodles was nauseating. However, in the hardship, there were always moments to smile. The trading of snacks, the small exchanges through a translator app and the bemused face of a little child looking upon a clueless foreigner made this journey an unforgettable and cherished experience. After some short bursts of sleep, the train eventually pulled into Beijing, and I was sad to disembark.

In the hardship, there were always moments to smile… the small exchanges through a translator app and the bemused face of a little child looking upon a clueless foreigner

The journey was far from over, however, as I still had to travel to the rural village close to the Great Wall. I navigated Beijing’s subway system and made it to a bus station on the outskirts of the city, but here I encountered the wrath of a local Beijinger, who reinforced the city’s reputation as China’s unfriendliest. The bus driver outrightly refused to let me on his bus, adamant that a Western foreigner with his big suitcase had no purpose in traveling to a small rural Chinese village. The shouting at me intensified as I insisted I was on the correct bus, all the while the local Chinese passengers pushed past me to board the bus, seemingly passing expletives in my direction on the way by. After a few minutes of commotion, I reached into my wallet to offer a great quantity of yuan, hoping that I would be able to bribe myself onto this bus, an action which the bus driver acquiesced to by aggressively pointing to the back of the bus.

After a further 3-hour journey, I made it to the village at the foot of one of the 7 Wonders of the World. A large poster of Mao adorned the wall above my bed whilst the electricity was not working during my visit. None of this mattered, however, as I admired the view of the Great Wall snaking along the mountain top. I would go on to hike along the unrestored part of the wall, far away from any other tourists, alone on millennia of history. It was the most remarkable experience of my life, and I have since grown a deep love for the Chinese nation and culture.

Image Credit: Luke Sands