The greatest wonder of the world

Let’s go straight to the real facts. March and flight to China. Thinking about today’s situation, not the best decision right now. But without panic people. I flew to China and I flew in March. But not this year, last year, in 2019. My second flight to this country, more specifically to the capital – Beijing.

China is a country with one of the oldest civilizations in the world. Just think about a long history of writing and several important discoveries such as gunpowder, papyrus, compass and print. IHowever, important historical discoveries do not favor China in the political field today. A country with more than a billion inhabitants and two political systems – the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China. A conflict that is still present today and holds tensions between this huge country and Taiwan. We could say that the political situation will be present in the economic field as well. But this is not true. This country’s economy is the world’s second largest economy and has one of the fastest growing GDPs in the world.

Morning flight to the capital. The flight duration was exactly 7 hours and 16 minutes. Most might think that Beijing is China’s largest city, which is certainly not true. With a population of almost 22.5 million (almost as many as in Australia), it is China’s second largest city, just behind Shanghai. And just because I work as a cabin crew, I need to mention interesting fact. Beijing Airport is the second busiest airport in the world. And here’s the answer why we still fly to China’s capital today.

The drive from the airport to the Radison Blu Hotel took us about half an hour. We arrived at the hotel in the late evening, around midnight. We still had enough power to arrange an organized tour for the next day and then we finally went to our rooms. I fall asleep straight away and I woke up to a sunny Chinese morning. I had a healthy breakfast and got ready for a new day. Adventure was waiting for me, ups, for us. We gathered in the hotel lobby, four out of sixteen, at eight in the morning. We wanted to avoid the traffic jams on our way, so we needed to leave the hotel as early as possible. The ride to our first and only stop took about an hour. Yeah, I know, I didn’t tell you yet where we went. But I think it’s time to reveal my secret.

The seventh wonder of the world. Built about 500 years ago. Length about 21,000 km. From the Yellow Sea to the Gobi Desert. I think you already know what I’m talking about. That’s how it is. We went to the Great Wall of China. This is a symbol of Chinese greatness and one of the greatest building achievements of human history. It is also one of the most popular tourist attractions in China. The numbers themselves are talking about this. On an average daily basis, the Chinese Wall is visited by around 27,000 visitors, amounting to around 10,000,000 million people per year. But there can be a problem – wall visit is not evenly distributed between the season and weekdays and weekends. It can happen that over 100,000 people visit the attraction over the summer months. This is one of the problems that is slowly defying proper and prompt restoration. In that addition, it’s worth mentioning weather challenges as well.

We drove from Beijing to the small town called Mutianyu. This was our starting point to the Great Wall of China. This is where our chauffeur bought our tickets and left us to go on our own. We agreed on an hour and our journey to the heights began. There are many ways to go to the wall. Hiking is a way I would choose if I had more time. However, if walking is not a person’s best virtue, there are two options to choose from. The first is a cable car. This is a closed “egg” in which you stand and ride safely to the top. Second one, a little more adventurous, is a chairlift for two. We chose the latter and we were on top in 5 minutes. The advantage of leaving early was certainly showing up on chairlift and the fairly empty surface of the Great Wall of China. And this is where our exploration began.

From the final chairlift station, we turned to the right and walked through the Great Wall of China. It is almost impossible to describe this amazing structure. It’s just hard to believe that this marvelous achievement was built by human hands. The wall, which is 7-8 meters high and 6-7 meters wide, is lined with brick. This allows walkers to walk easily on its surface. Every few meters, maybe miles, they built stone “houses” where soldiers stayed at the time of the attack, from where they watched the surroundings and where they actually had a roof over their heads. The job the soldier did back then was not easy at all. After walking around the Great Wall of China, I repeatedly asked myself if there is any legend behind this story. And how right I was. I read from one of the prospects that all the men who died during the construction of the Great Wall were supposed to be buried inside the wall. Because of this we can also call it the wall of sorrow and blood. Till today they didn’t discover any bodies inside. So the legend remains just a legend. I stopped several times in between, looked into the distance and still saw this mighty wonder of the world. Like a dragon, it stretches across valleys and hills. The mighty wall that the human eye can detect for miles is also seen from the moon. This has not been confirmed by concrete facts, but it is worth mentioning that rumors say that it was seen by astronauts.

Our walk around the Great Wall of China took us about two hours. We did a lot of photos during that time, and when I say a lot, I really mean a lot. People will think that we walked quite a lot, which it is not true at all. In my opinion, and if the feeling does not deceive me, we walked around two kilometers. We spent rest of our time talking, socializing and, as mentioned, taking pictures. I think my collection is between 200-300 photos. And all done in a good two hours. Opala …

Time in good company, with nice weather and interesting surroundings goes around fast. Faster than usual. We had no choice but to head back to the valley. There are three ways to get to the village below. The first two are the aforementioned walking and cable car. The third option is slide rail. In fact, I do not know the Slovenian word for this invention, which we also have in Kranjska Gora and Pohorje. This is a kind of seat that is located on a one-track line. With the seat handle, you adjust the speed as you go down the hill. We chose the latter for the descent in Mutianyu. And as a surprise, we recognized a couple of passengers from our flight the previous day. We exchanged a few words, laughed and we wished one to each other nice stay in Beijing. The roller coaster ride went too fast. It was fun, but not too exciting as the people in front of me were braking at every bend. But yeah, safety comes first. Only a bus ride followed and we were already back in touristic Matianyu.

Finally, as real tourists, we took a look at the stands. Each of us has bought at least one little thing. I chose a Chinese magnet to give to one of my friends. I don’t really collect magnets, so anytime I buy one I give it away. In the right hands, of course. The hotel chauffeur was waiting for us at one of the nearby bars and it was time for a one-hour drive back to the hotel. Tired from night and day, we closed our eyes. But only for 5 minutes. Well, at least that’s what we thought it was.

The hour of return indicated two in the afternoon. It was lunch time. We walked across the street to Tianhong Shopping Plaza and picked one of Chinese restaurants for a meal. Hmm … Chinese cuisine can’t be so bad. I chose noodles with traditional meat and vegetable sauce and vegetable dumplings. It’s hard to compare Chinese food to European Chinese food. Not very bad, not great. You can always find something you like and something that is totally “disgusting”. I suggest to everyone to try it.

With almost full stomachs, we headed back to the hotel. Since I had a few hours left, I went to the hotel gym and used the time for myself. I worked on myself for an hour. Again, this is more than necessary and important with our way of life. And sleep as well. The clock declined six in the afternoon. We had a wake-up call around 3.00 in the morning. I laid down in bed and fall asleep at the movie until our scheduled departure. When I was doing my make up, I thought that I didn’t visit many attractions on this layover. But after, the thought of visiting the Great Wall of China struck me. And that was more than enough.

Chinese wall. One of the seven wonders of the world. A wish from my “bucket list” that came true. The wish of many people I know. I am waiting to visit Beijing and the Forgotten City again. Maybe I wouldn’t visit the city right now, but once in the future. Let’s wait until things calm down. Definitely – see you next time Beijing.