As the bus journeyed on to our next destination, my heart was filled with anticipation. Can't help it, I'm going to visit one of the wonders of the world.

We were going to the Badaling section, 50 miles north of Beijing. There two other sections where tourists visit - Mutianyu and Jinshanling. The wall at Badaling was built during the Ming Dynasty and is 7.8 meters high and 5.8 meters wide.

The entire wall was built between the fifth century BC and the 16th century AD. It was built by Emperor Qin. One section reportedly took 300,000 men 10 years to build! The wall is 3,333 miles long which is why it is known as Wall of Ten Thousand Li (Wang Li Chang Chen).

When we managed to see fragments of the great wall along the hills, we were delighted. This is it! This was what I came for! This was my happiest moment for the whole trip.

As we moved out of Beijing's hectic city, we came towards hills and valleys. The hills were quite barren and very dry. So unlike Malaysia with its lush greenery, here we saw brown picturesque. However, I believe, it will be a pretty picture when coming towards summer.

We were given ample time to climb the wall. My mom was afraid of her dizzy spells (she confided in me that she felt dizzy during the Ming Tombs earlier in the morning) climbed to the first tower and decided to shop around there instead.

Well, you know me. Having climbed before, I wouldn't let the opportunity passed especially since this was the great wall we were talking about. After some picture taking with tour members and Xiao Kuok, I set on to my task.

The steps are quite steep so it was not as easy as I thought. There were many people (even grandmas and grandpas!) climbing up and down and the wall was littered with locals selling souvenirs and photographers. This unfortunately took a bit out the historical sense of the feeling I had for this place.

I'm glad Mee Lan and her sister went up along as she helped me take some pictures at the higher points. Finally, I was left to myself to finish off the remaining steps to the highest point where there was a stall set up selling certificates of achievement climbing the wall till finish. One can have one's picture taken and included in the certificate along with one's name on it. Me? I don't need a cert, I had something better. The memory of climbing the wall is already engraved into me!

Here's some pictorial explanations:

With some of the tour members.

Xiao Kuok and mom.

Xiao Kuok and me.

The view on the other side. The left side has less people and no certificates sold.

Notice the stalls on my left.

Notice there's a slide with people on it? There's actually bikes for rent that can take you to a certain section (not the highest) and you can get on the slide to go down. Have to pay of course!

That's Mee Lan, one very kind tour member.

That's me! One of my aunt says that I look like a Westerner here.

The view around the wall.