A Speck Against the Sky

by Joei Villarama

If you don't like the hordes of camera-toting tourists jostling with you for the perfect picture on the Great Wall, head for the portion at Huangyaguan just 120 km north of Tianjin. If you don't like sharing the site with hundreds of souvenir-hungry pilgrims trooping to the site at Beijing, bring the troop to the section just two hours away from where we are now.

When my mom, brothers, a friend and I went, we had the entire structure almost to ourselves so we ran up and down the steps with untrammeled glee, shouting at the top of our lungs like we owned the whole wall. My 11 and 12 year old brothers issued command attacks firing canons as real as the imagination could fashion. We had the watchtowers to ourselves and felt like the solitary guards of yore spotting any “barbarian” who would sneak up and scale the wall.

As the new “owners” of the wall, we could soak up the view as we pleased. Being on the wall made me feel like I was inside the most beautiful Chinese painting with the natural rollercoaster ranges that can only be echoed by puny but great men. Contemplate and marvel at the people's single-minded determination to build such an amazing structure with the tools and technology available during their time. Feel the sadness over those who suffered and perished in creating it, too.

One of the legends widely disseminated through folk songs, operas and textbooks tells of Meng Jiangnu. One of the sections of the Great Wall supposedly collapsed because she cried and wailed bitterly over the death of her husband during the wall's construction. It must have been one of the loneliest and painful sounds coursing through the land, a lamentation that cut through stones.

The history of the Chang Cheng (as the Chinese call the Great Wall), stretches over two thousand years. Originally built in 557 AD, the Huangyaguan section was repaired in the Ming Dynasty with a new design for the first time when Qijiguang, a famous Chinese general, was chief of the Jixian military. The wall was repaired for the second time in 1985 and by now, 3,025 meters of the wall, 20 water towers and a water pass have been restored. With an average altitude of 738 meters, the wall winds up and down precipitous ridges.

Aside from the wall itself at Huangyaguan, one can also enjoy the Bagua labyrinth which is fun for children and for the little kid that has never left each of us. There's also a museum and the Beiji Temple to round off the trip.

We met two couples during the whole time we were on the wall. When my Mom showed increasing signs of exhaustion, I egged and encouraged her on by saying, “Look at the couple who went ahead of us. If they can do it, I'm sure you can make it.” The couple was much older than my mom so I thought the length of the wall was something they could handle since they went full steam ahead.

Later on, however, they were walking back and told us that reaching the end was too much. They had gone up to a vantage point where they saw the snaking structure stretched too far for them to tackle. Right then and there my mom wanted to throw in the towel but we managed to convince her to go as far as the next two towers to get a better view of the twisting, heaving behemoth and see if the distance was really unmanageable. For my mom it was so we had to make an armys hasty retreat.

My little brothers who were brimming full of excitement to finish the great trek had to be content with the one hour we had on the wall. Like a general in charge of the post would say, “Defeat is only temporary. There is always a next time.”

And there will definitely be a next time. This year, my adventure-loving, 26 year old brother and I plan to join the 10 kilometer marathon on the Great Wall at Huangyaguan. On the internet we discovered that every May, there's a 5 and 10 kilometer run where people from all over the world flock to experience the privilege of running on the back of the mighty dragon.

The website gives some very useful tips on preparing and training for the course. It's quite a challenge for new and avid runners alike. There are sections of the wall where the steps are more than a foot high each. There are portions where the drop can cause a slight vertigo for the fainthearted. But for the courageous thrill-seekers, the marathon will be a refreshing, monumental rush. On the greatest of walls, you are but a tiny speck contained within vistas of mountains rising and falling against the infinite sky.