Great Wall of China, or as the Chinese would say, Great Wall

So China is the largest country in the world and has the largest city (Shanghai) and the largest square (Tiananmen Square) in the world.  Can a country claim any more large-ness?  Oh yeah.  They have the largest wall.  Ok, I'm not sure if that's true, but they do have a great wall.  The Great Wall, actually.  Of China.

For me, being on the Great Wall was actually a bit surreal.  It is just one of those sites that you've heard about all your life.  Like the Pyramids of Giza or the Eiffel Tower.  They're in practically every world disaster movie being blown up, ripped up, washed away, or destroyed in one form or another.  But here it was.  And there we were standing on top of it.  And then walking on it.  And then hiking on it.  Then resting on it since some of those steps were just so damn steep.

Notice how the steps just disappear

Just a couple of tips when going to The Wall.
1.  Wear plenty of layers. It's pretty windy up there but you heat up rather quickly when you want to walk along the wall.
2.  People will sell you stuff on the wall.  Feel free to haggle.  I got a set of 10 postcards for 10 yuan.  That's like $1.20.  And she started off at 45 Yuans.
3.  Take the train or the bus to Badaling (the closest city to Beijing to visit The Wall).  It's cheaper than taking a tour bus and you can spend as much time as you want on the wall and not just 30 minutes like you would if you were w/ a tour group.  You can find information on taking the train here: http://www.seat61.com/China.htm#Great Wall of China

Darin Posing as a Builder

By the way, I don't think the Chinese actually call it Great Wall.  It's probably something else in Mandarin that I would butcher, so I won't even try.  But perhaps if it was translated it would be "Great Wall."  Who knows.