Wandergaels: The Great Wall and Shaolin Temple (China)

We set off early the next morning for what was probably the highlight of the trip so far; a trip to Mutianyu (located about 75 km from Beijing city centre) for a trek along a section of the Great Wall of China (from watchtowers 14 to 23). After arriving by bus, and getting some subs for lunch later in the day in a conveniently-located Subway, we ascended the Wall on cable cars. (Myself and Aisling were ‘lucky’ enough to travel in the same one as apparently used by Bill Clinton when he visited the Wall in 1998). We had a particularly warm day for the hike, with the temperatures up around 40°C, but we were lucky that we had a generally mist-free day, allowing for some incredible views of the surrounding mountains, valleys, and the Great Wall and its watchtowers. Our route had a great mix of steep steps, flat areas, and sections where the wall was falling down! We also got to trek the narrowest section of the wall. After a few hours, we hopped our sweaty selves off the Wall and descended through some fairly dense forest to a small village located in a nearby valley, and wearily dragged ourselves to our guesthouse for some local rice-based dishes and some cold local beers.

Part of the Great Wall

The view from the start of our wall trek

After getting a coma-like sleep (despite the supposed monsoon-like storm that raged overnight), we headed back out to the wall for an early trek, and this time walked along a steeper section of the wall than we done the previous day. Part of this section had collapsed, which made it a bit more challenging. Afterwards, we bussed it back to Beijing city centre. From there, we travelled in surprisingly good comfort and cleanliness in the second-class sleeper section of an overnight train (on three-bed bunks) to the 1,500-year old Shaolin Temple, famous to some as the traditional home of Kung Fu. The monastery at the temple is still home to around 300 Buddhists monks, and the main temple is surrounded by several Kung Fu schools. These schools are home to both Chinese (mainly kids) and international (mainly adults) students, who board and learn Kung Fu at these schools for months at a time. During our time at Shaolin, these students trained all around our guest house from early morning to late evening.

The flat part of the Great Wall - we liked this part!

On our first full day at the temple, we visited the Buddhist monastery at the temple, after which we attended a Kung Fu show in a theatre near the temples. During the show, children of the schools showed off their skills and acrobatic abilities to a very highly-impressed audience of mainly Chinese tourists. Day two of our time at Shaolin included of a 27-km hike along a mainly stepped walkway, which was built into the winding terrain of the Songshan and Shaoshi mountains that overlook the temple. After plenty of ups and downs along the stone steps, we eventually reached a precariously-positioned Pagoda perching on the edge of one of the mountains, which provided a spectacular view of the valleys and mountains underneath.

The following morning, we dragged our sore and creaky bodies onto our bus and headed to the Longmen Grottoes, located about 5 km south of Luoyang City along the banks of the Yi River. This UNESCO-listed world heritage site is home to tens of thousands of Buddha statues carved into caves in the limestone cliffs of the Xiangshan and Longmenshan mountains.