These past couple of weeks in China have been a whirlwind of new experiences. Before I had even fully adjusted to the time change, I had already explored a not-yet-public part of Summer Palace with Morty, drowned in a rainstorm while walking back from dinner, and crashed a toboggan while sliding down the Great Wall of China.
We went to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall during our first weekend in China. Never having been the athletic type myself, I was a bit apprehensive about the trip. From the parking lot, we had to climb over 4000 steps to simply reach the Great Wall. This basically equated to 30 minutes on the stair climber machine at the gym. Our chitchatting and banter at the launch of our expedition were soon replaced with heavy breaths and exhausted wheezes.
With the back of our shirts soaked and our foreheads exuding sweat, we celebrated our completion of arrival to a lower part of the Great Wall. But our festivity at finishing the long stretch of stairs was soon replaced by dread that we reached what was essentially another huge staircase. Some of the stairs on the Great Wall were low, perhaps only a few inches in height, but still proved to be treacherous as they awkwardly slanted left or right. Yet other stairs nearly reached the bottom of my knee in height, and a succession of these left me literally crawling up the stars. When I reached the first tower, I collapsed against the wall, too tired to even lift my water bottle to my mouth.
As I slowly regained feeling in my legs, I started to appreciate the amazing scenery that engulfed me. We were quite high up, and a hazy fog fell on the mountains. The view was incredible, and despite the torturous climb, it was well worth the effort.
Breathtaking view from a high point on the Wall
After a light lunch, we wandered off to an unfurnished and ruined portion of the Great Wall. Finally, we began the long trek down the Wall. While going up the stairs was exhausting, getting back down was nerve-wracking. Standing at the top of a set of steep, knee-high stairs looked like a 90 degree drop. We reached the bottom of the Great Wall, and a group of us decided to take a toboggan to bypass the 4000 stairs to get back to the parking lot.
Waiting in line for the toboggan ride down
The group I was with all mentioned our desire to race through the tracks. I was giddy with excitement as I jumped onto my sled. The first portion of the ride was exciting and beautiful, as I swiftly flew down the track. I may have been a bit too caught up in the speed, however, because when it nearly came to the end of the course, I crashed into my friends in front of me. I broke free of my sitting stance in the sled, completely flipped over my left side, and crashed onto the pavement beside the slide. Luckily, I sustained only a scrapped elbow and a slightly sore hip. Regardless of my little accident, this day will be a cherished memory for years to come!