By telling us your country of residence we are able to provide you with the most relevant travel insurance information.
Please note that not all content is translated or available to residents of all countries. Contact us for full details.
Shares
“It almost took 2,000 years to build this wall” with my right foot placed on the singed-brown rickety step while my left foot lags behind, I could hear the shrill voice in my ears, the voice which resonated in Social Studies lessons while discussing the Seven Wonders of the World. As I ascend towards the first battlement tower, the same voice, but relatively softer, struck again, “Out of all these Wonders, where would you like to go Saba?” With tiny sparkles and a huge dream in her eyes she answers “The Great Wall of China.” Saba? Yes that’s me, after 17 years of that dream here I am treading on the “Wall”. As I stride upwards, each step takes me back to primary school, where I first learnt about the Great Wall of China, unseeing the hundreds of passers-by, it was like I time travelled between the two episodes of my life. ‘The One in the Primary School Class’ and ‘The One on the Stairs of the Wall’ (as the FRIENDS title would name). But this makes me contemplate which character from FRIENDS I would be. The next lofty and gnarly step brings me back to my senses and instinctively makes me look behind. “This is why you shouldn’t smoke”, an old lady hiking with a wooden stick in her hand says. “But I don’t smoke”, I smiled and replied. “All these youngsters don’t have any stamina, look at me I am 57 and I can climb a hundred more steps without any break,” she proclaims as she walks past me. An embarrassing moment for me, but at least she helps me get out of the swinging-between-phases quandary and makes me realise that I am definitely not Chandler or Monica, as one smokes and the other is freakishly strong. Anyhow, as I continue to hike onwards, another thought strikes me……“why do thousands of tourists scamper and scurry along this wall every day, as if they are part of a marathon race or as if this path of what seems like a million miles will lead anywhere?”. I wanted to ask this question to a native but feared that this might offend them. The thought of connecting with the locals stressed me a lot, as communication, one of the fundamental elements to connect, seemed laborious (being a Pakistani I only know English and Urdu) when Chinese people can only communicate in Mandarin primarily. Adding to this, the tremendous gap between the two cultures also made me feel alienated in this foreign country. Finally, upon reaching the third battlement tower, the breath-taking view of the trail spreading across the mountains and greenery casing the wall from both sides elicits me in overcoming my paranoia. Here, one might ask how can a view overshadow all of the differences between two cultures so diverse and incompatible. It was as if everything in sight was talking to me. It seemed as though the wind blowing through my hair was giving me peace, the light was conveying a message of love to me, the dust under my feet was signifying respect, and even the ash trees and mimosas (not the alcoholic beverage!) surrounding The Wall were playing Zhongguo Feng, a renowned style of genre of music in China, to me. Holding on to all these values made me feel at one with them. The love, hospitality and respect I received throughout the remainder of our tour taught me a lifelong lesson that you don’t need to learn other cultures or languages to connect to people, you just need to comprehend the messages concealed in the atmosphere.