Walking the Wall

Brendan and Dale Evans at the first beacon tower

Our taxi driver doesn’t believe us when we say we want to be dropped off at the start of the Great Wall. She’s driven us the seven kilometers south of Jiayuguan Fort to the first beacon tower and helped us get our packs from the boot, but she doesn’t want to take any money until we tell her what time we want to be picked up for the return ride to Jiayuguan. We say (again) that we don’t need a ride back, and (again) she insists on waiting until we’re ready to leave. Eventually she accepts payment and drives off, but even then she parks a few hundred metres away and watches for a few minutes to make sure we are set on staying.

The first beacon tower

It was understandable, considerate even. The first beacon tower, at the western end of the Ming Great Wall, is a bit off the beaten track. It is a modest block of rammed loess, smaller and probably less ancient than Jade Gate Pass near Dunhuang. Unlike Jiayuguan Fort, it doesn’t grace the cover of tourist brochures or provincial atlases. It isn’t even generally considered the beginning of the wall, as the fort makes for a more dramatic opening.

But whatever the first beacon tower lacks in grandeur, it more than makes up for in its setting. Perched on a 80-metre high cliff high at a bend in the Taolai River, the pass has terrific views south and west down the river’s enormous canyon.

The Taolai River

More importantly, the beacon tower affords clear views south across enormous alluvial fans spilling from the foothills of the Qilian Mountains. It doesn’t take much imagination to realise why this beacon tower was built where it was. From the tower, it would be possible to see any party attempting to enter the valley between the river and the mountains to the south. From this point north, the wall extends 17 kilometres to the Hei Shan (Black Mountains), blocking entry all along its path. All practical means of entering the Hexi Corridor from the west are either blocked by the wall or visible from the beacon tower.

An unobstructed view to the impassable Qilian Mountains

Jiayuguan’s cultural heritage authorities have attempted to dress up the tower as a tourist attraction. Below the pass there is a mock military encampment, with reconstructed officers’ and soldiers’ quarters and military equipment. Like many such efforts, it can be criticised for a high cheese factor, but truth be told we enjoyed it and found it informative and even occasionally evocative.

The vehicle and weapons reconstructions were, simply put, pretty cool. They had drum chariots (i.e. a chariot with a big drum tower to beat on), prison vans, and our favorite, the shoving chariot.

The swinging ram on this chariot will shove off any ladder placed against the wall

You could get your picture taken in fake armour (we declined), or shoot a few arrows through some straw warriors (Emma insisted).

Ready, aim . . .

The place had everything – except tourists.

Maybe when the 2008 Olympics come

We went back to the beacon tower to pose for our inaugural shot before walking, the one of us looking all eager and energetic. We’ll see how that compares with the one of us at the end of the wall, but that’s a few months away (see picture at the top of the page).

We set out on the east side with the wall on our left. This would have been considered the “inside” of the wall. It wasn’t really possible to walk on top, and we will rarely do that in areas where the wall is not made of brick. Even though it looks pretty good for being at least 600 years old, when the wall is made of loess or dirt it is still prone to crumbling. For our own safety and for the integrity of the wall, we will mostly be walking next to it.

Only 2999.99 kilometres to go

That’s not to say that the wall is not damaged. What happens when there’s a wall running straight across a valley and you need to build roads and train tracks that directly intersect it? You could build a bridge or a tunnel, but in the space of those 7 kms that we walked that day, there were at least two roads, two highways and one train track. When there’s that amount of infrastructure, it’s easier just to knock the wall down.

A road cuts straight through the wall

However, cultural heritage preservation is an increasingly important issue in China, and at this new expressway a few kilometres away, the wall’s integrity is taken into account.

Walls can be overpasses, too

Though parts of the wall may be crumbling, the towers definitely are not. They are very impressive, huge, solid structures with a cutting still visible down the middle where we assume a ladder or a stairway was built.

Brendan beside a beacon tower

Seven kilometres later we were safe and sound sipping tea in our hotel. Okay, it was a cushy first day. We’ll save the hardship for down the trail.