Wherever you go, go with all your heart.
The journey with a 1000 miles begins with one step. - Confucius
Have you ever considered going some place and you thought it probably wouldn’t ever come true so you tucked it away and tried to forget about it? Way down inside in your heart where dreams went to take naps.
But you couldn’t. So you bought a postcard and looked at it.
A zillion times.
Twice.
And then one day your fantasy comes true. You are standing in front of one of the greatest sights in the world.
The Great Wall of China.
The longest in the world.
See what I mean?
Overwhelming.
An awe-inspiring feat of ancient defensive architecture.
There are any number of areas to visit, but the most popular and closest to Beijing is the Badaling section. It's very crowded but easy to manage.
My kind of trail.
Shall we walk up and say hello?
The height of the wall is 16–26 feet where it is intact or has been restored, designed to be at least three times a person's height. I'm only 5'1" (or taller by another half-inch on a good day) so I've had to peer beyond to see the gently descending slopes that follow the curvature of the steep mountains.
My trusty tourist pamphlet tells of the wall's 2,300 year-long history.
Yes, it's that old. It was built in different areas by different dynasties to protect territorial borders.
Besides that, it had the greatest cost in human lives throughout its construction. Families were separated. Many died and were interred as part of the Great Wall itself.
Which reminds me of the Kung Fu TV show (you may need to look this up) in which the blind teacher teaches his young pupil to listen to the sound of the grasshopper at his feet. I'm thinking that this could be a poetic reference to the voice of those buried within the wall.
Sad to say, there is noticeable damage along the way. About 1,300 miles of the Ming Great Wall and far more of previous dynasties' wall sections have been documented as gone.
Truth?
Regardless. In my vocabulary, the Great Wall is GREAT! Really. (I'm allowing myself one exclamation point.)
Ancient ruins are more beautiful than adorned castles, for ruins are the cathedrals of time.
They once were the abode of gods.
To this day, they remain to be the epitome of perfect proportion.
A testament to brave hearts.
The haunting reminder of a people's fierce pride.
A memorial to wisdom and dedication.
I'm imprinting this moment on my heart forever. Every foothold. Every minute. Every hour of this summer afternoon when there is only silence.
And the sound of the grasshopper at my feet.
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