Great Wall of China ... June 2013

Great Wall of China

June 2013

My cousin's daughter, Lindsay Larsen, came to visit us in China for a week.  We were so excited for her to come and couldn't stand the thought of her coming all the way to China and not getting to see the Great Wall and all the cool things in Beijing, so we surprised her and got flights to go there!  We felt a little bad that she had to get off her long flight from the U.S. and then get on another flight three hours later, but she was a trooper and rolled with it.  Katie and Ashley were the first ones in our family to go to the Great Wall when they went with Grandma and Grandpa Stucki in October 2011, and Aaron and I ran the Great Wall Half Marathon together the month before in May, but Ryan and Sophie hadn't been to the Great Wall yet.  This would be the first time as our whole family.  

Our tour guide, Glenn Wu, met us in the morning with a van and took us to Mutianyu, and more touristy part of the Wall, but a really beautiful part.  Parts of the Great Wall were built as early as the 7th Century BC!!!  There were several parts built over several hundred years and eventually joined together.  The majority of the wall was built during the Ming Dynasty (roughly 1400-1600).  The Wall helped protect China from invaders and as a border control.  It is a breathtaking Wonder of the World.  Standing on the Wall is an amazing life experience.  To look at the beauty in every direction around you, and to think of the thousands of years of history that took place there is nothing short of awe-inspiring.  We had a fabulous morning on the Wall!

Down at the base of Mutianyu by all the shops and hawkers.

Instead of walking up with the kids we took the tram up.  

I was a little stressed the whole time that Sophie would go right through one of these holes.  It was a huge drop off the wall and down the mountain on the other side.

There are several of these watch towers that were used by the military to look out for invaders and used as signal towers; they would like torches to send messages from tower to tower with smoke or fire.  

Cannons were aimed through holes in the walls to fight against invaders.