Camping on Gubeikou wild wall

My friend was surprised at my decision of trekking Gubeikou wild wall. I was such an unathletic girl in her eyes. She refused my invitation for this travel clashed with her examination. So I asked the other three of my classmates to go with me. We started early on a Sunday from Beijing North Railway Station.

We five arrived at Gubeikou Railway Station at seven. The Gubeikou Great Wall can be seen in the distance right from the exit of the railway station. We were filled with the wildest excitement at once and threaded our way toward it. It was not easy to get lost along the mountain path. Just walking in the direction of the Great Wall would not be wrong. But the road was not as smooth as in my imagination. In some sections, the road only allowed one person to pass at one time. One hour later, the figure of the wall slowly became obviously.

The original face of the Great Wall could be seen here, not Badaling which was exaggeratedly new. Only standing on the pieces of broken bricks you could truly believe that the wall was used for war but not tourism. The outside of the wall was built by bricks while the inner side was merely earth. Because in the past, the outside of the wall faced enemies while the inner side was home. Though it was during the “May Day Golden Holidays”, we could hardly see other tourists; after all, this was a wild wall.

Eric walked at the head of the parade and I was the last. What a long pull it was! From time and time, I stopped and asked Sherry to take photos of me. (Actually I took the chance to have a rest). All of us bore heavily. Occasionally, we removed the bags and enjoyed the scenery. The wall was mysterious and dilapidated. We had already trekked almost three kilometers but still could not see the head of this dragon. My muscles were burning. Looking the long endless inclines to the west, I knew there was still a long path of toil to plod. But anyway, we had to recharge our batteries. By the side of a broken beacon tower, we opened the bags and had a memorable meal on the wall.

After the meal, we continued to walk on the wall. The following route had more steep ups and downs. A thick growth of weeds covered most paths. I guess in ancient times there was not so much weeds on the wall for the enemies could easily find the places to hide. The scenery was charming as it was in spring time. But we could not pause to enjoy the scenery. We had to move on to find a good camping place before nightfall.

The girls could not move any further. It was getting on for six o’clock. As it grew darker, the way ahead became more difficult to trace. Happened to find a beacon tower that suitable to camp, we decided to stop here and put up the tent. Eric cooked instant noodles for us. We lighted candles in the tent. It was pitch dark and silent outside our tent. Stephen scared girls with a ghost story. I felt exhausted and quickly went to sleep in my cozy sleeping bag.

At seven o’clock on the next day, we got up. The Great Wall peered from the mist in the distance. I took another group of Great Wall pictures which was named “Great Wall in the Morning Light”. When the bricks of the Great Wall became flat, it was approaching Jinshanling. We decided to go down the mountain and called it a day.

We met a local villager who offered to lead the way at a price of 20 yuan. Two hours later, we returned to Hexi Village and had a great lunch. At about four in the afternoon, we took the train no.4449 and returned to Beijing.