Surviving the Great Wall

     It's not every day one can say, "I'm on the Great Wall of China!" but on June 23rd 2012, I was able to.

     When we first arrived at one of the entrances to the Great Wall, gift shops and small food stations encompassed us.  To the side was an entrance which went two ways: to the right and to the left.  I was standing before the Great Wall of China and I could hardly believe it.  Phoebe gave us instructions for the next few hours, our rendezvous point, and then we were free to climb the Great Wall of China.  But before we were free, Phoebe advised us: "You can take the right side, which is the hard side, or you can take the left side, which is the harder side.  No matter which side you take, it's going to be hard."

       I grinned at the thought of it: it would be hard and physically exhausting.  I was beyond excited.  We were supposed to stay in small groups, and I found myself with a delegation leader and another boy from our delegation.  The three of us decided to take the left side, the "harder" side. 

 

      I quickly realized why this side was "harder."  The slope of the ground was ridiculously steep.  I lost my balance several times, stumbling over the loose bricks below my feet.  When the ground wasn't terribly steep, we faced stairs that were thin stairs that covered an even steeper area.  I had to pause many times to gather my breath and regain my strength.  It was disheartening, but I was determined to make it to the tower that loomed ahead of us.  I wasn't the only one who found the climb to be overwhelming.  A young boy was crawling up the stairs as his parents followed, laughing and taking photos of their son.  It was one of the most innocent and heart-warming scenes I had ever seen. 

      Too soon, I realized that the climb was too much for my body.  I was carrying a ten-pound bookbag and the ordeal was taking its toll on me.  I paused again, leaning my bag against the outer wall and closed my eyes, struggling to breathe.

 

 



 

 

     “Take slow breaths. You’re suffering under the thin air. Breathe slowly,” the boy in our small group said to me as I attempted to control my ragged breathing.

      Of course, I thought to myself. We're in Beijing, in northern China, and I'm on top mountains. Of course the air is thin.

       So there I was, on the Great Wall of China, chanting to myself In…hold…out. In…hold….out. In…hold…out. to regain composure.  And then I thought about the history of this "great wall." 

      In 221BC, Emperor Qin Shi Huang unified China, and became the first emperor to rule over all of China.  In the same year, he ordered that the small walls in northern China be unified into one Great Wall to protect China from northern invaders.  For this to be a reality, prisoners of war, criminals, and poor workers were forced to make this great wall.  The workers often worked until they died.  It's impossible to know how many shed their life building this wall.  For this, the Great Wall is nicknamed, "The Longest Cemetery on Earth."

      Yet here I was, struggling just to walk up that same wall.   With a final deep breath, I pushed myself up and said that I was ready to continue to the tower.  I was nothing, if not determined.

     Between the systematic thoughts of In…hold…out, I imagined prisoners of war and poor workers constructing the bricks to build this seemingly endless wall.  I tried not to visualize the skeletons buried beneath me, but one thought prevailed within my mind: If millions of Chinese could die building this wall, then I could push past my physical exhaustion and climb to the tower.

      As we continued to walk up, I ignored the burning sensation in my legs and my sore back, and remembered a word I learned in Chinese class: 呼吸 (Hūxī, pronounced "who? she?").  It means to breathe.  My teacher had taught us that the word even sounded like a person breathing: huxi, huxi, huxi.  So I began to count my breaths this way--chanting huxi to myself and listening to the soft sound of my breaths.

     If you were standing on a piece of history from 2,000 years ago, what would your thoughts consist of? For me, I did not expect to be chanting to myself, but there I was, atop the Great Wall of China struggling to breathe whilst my legs quivered underneath me.  I’ve never been an active person and an ascent of this magnitude was not easy.

 

   

 

     At long last we arrived at the tower and entered. The weather had been relatively cool; it felt like it was 70* Fahrenheit.  But inside the tower, it was a stone-cooled and chilly atmosphere.  The tower was lined with windows looking out to the great wall.  One near the exit of the tower caught my attention--a couple were looking out over it.  It was very romantic and sweet.  After they left it, the three of us walked to the ledge and took several photos there.  If you looked straight down, it was a steep fall into green grass.  Among the bricks were carved names and dates--in Chinese.  It made me smile.  Turns out that marking your name on monuments is an international taking.

    

 

 

 

     Too soon, we knew we needed to descend in order to meet back with our delegation at the appointed time, and I looked out over what I had just managed to ascend.  I looked out at the view, and oh, was the struggle worth it! The view stole what breath I had remaining. Smog extended as far as the eye could see, cloaking a truly great wall. I fought back tears and allowed myself to be taken with the image that lay before me. I was on the GREAT WALL OF CHINA. This wasn't a sweet dream that I would be awakened from; this was reality. This was a dream come true.

 

 

 

      

     Fortunately, I had gained composure before we began to descend.  I quickly discovered that the descent was much more difficult.  I grasped the rusting rail and focused on taking one step at a time.  My legs began to buckle underneath me and I began to worry; would we make it back to the rendezvous on time? I pushed the thought away and concentrated on breathing again and going as fast as I possibly could down the steep stairs.  I kept my eyes trained on my feet and prayed that I wouldn't trip.

      The next time I looked up, I realized that the boy and the delegation leader had evanesced from my sight.  I immediately panicked; had I been that slow?! Had they been able to walk so much faster that they were so far away? 

     I swallowed my hysteria and looked back down at my feet as I pressed on.  Panicking wouldn't benefit me--I needed to get back to the rendezvous.  I gripped the rusting rail with all my might, but fear was lodged within me.  I didn't know where the others were, and I have terrible balance.  These steps were begging for my demise.  I took the steps with both feet.  I felt childish and young, but I knew if I persisted, I would make it. 

     The next time I looked up, I still didn't see either the boy nor the leader.  I wasn't focused on breathing, and my mind wasn't on the history of the Great Wall.  I wanted nothing more than to sit down and rest, but I pushed on.  I was completely focused on the steps when out of no where a hand reached up to me.  Shocked, I looked up to see the leader giving her hand to me.  She was going to help me down.

      Blood rushed to my cheeks as I was both relieved and embarrassed, but mostly I was grateful for the help. 

      I then felt the weight of my ten-pound backpack lift off my back.  I gasped in relief and shock that the boy was also helping me. Waves of emotion and gratitude washed over me.  I had been raised to believe that the world is a bad place full of bad people, yet here were two people I barely knew, helping me descend the Great Wall of China!  It was the most humbling and wonderful experience I have ever experienced in my life.

      Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that someone--two someones!--would be kind enough to help me descend the Great Wall.  I truly witnessed the heart of humanity.  I had never been so touched in my life.

     

 

 

 

     Time was a strange creature. It seemed as if it wasn't passing yet was passing with incredible speed at the same time. Somehow, we all managed to overcome the steepest part (the stairs), and I nodded to the leader and she released my hand.  I also turned my head and said 谢谢 (xie xie, pronounced she-ya she-ya; which means thank-you) and my bag slumped against my body.  A moment later, and the boy came to walk beside me. 
     It could have been a scene from a movie, it felt so.....right.

 

 

 

 

    

        A few hours later, as our delegation was on the bus, I turned to the boy who had helped me and said “thank-you, thank-you, thank-you for helping me! I cannot explain what that meant to me.”

      He blinked a few times and gave me a strange look before saying, “Stephanie…. That wasn’t me. That was some random Asian guy.”