We live on the wrong side of the wall. We are on the barbarian side. Liaoning Province was once occupied by Jurchen tribesman, also known as Manchus. In the mid-seventeenth century, the Manchus breached the Great Wall of China (GWC) and conquered the country. The Wall had defended China for almost two-thousand years, but alas, nothing lasts forever. The Manchus crossed the GWC, and went on to rule China until 1912. Last weekend, we went to see the Wall ourselves.

The first thing to know about the GWC is that you can’t walk on bricks from the Ming Dynasty. Only certain sections of the Wall are open to tourists, and those areas must be constantly maintained. Sometimes bricks have to be replaced. Still, some parts of the GWC are more renovated than others, and we managed to find some very old Wall.

We hiked up a spectacular section called Jiao Shan. It is the last descent out of the mountains before the Wall ends in the sea. Since we were coming from the ocean, we had a very steep climb. We walked all the way up, as far as we were allowed to go, and then we looked at the Wall that lay ahead. It was crumbling magnificently. The top surface was gone, so there was no where to walk, or to post guards. It was still beautiful, though, and certainly imposing.

We have heard that sections of the GWC near Beijing are overrun with tourists during the summer months, but out here in the Northeast provinces, the traffic was a lighter. The Wall was almost deserted, so we had Jiao Shan, and the spectacular views from the watch towers, all to ourselves.

Old Dragon Head, where the GWC meets the sea, looked much more crowded. That section, incidentally, has been completely rebuilt, so we didn’t think it would be worth the 40 kuai entrance fee. Instead, we decided to go to the beach, and we planned to sneak in from that side.

Alas, we were thwarted by a Giant Wall. So if you are ever wondering what Josh and Emily have in common with the Mongolian hordes, now you know.