Capitalist China

The Great Wall

	[Times photos: Bob Croslin]
	Stunning views greet visitors to a section of the Great Wall at Badaling, China.
	Chinese soldiers find the roller coaster effect of the Great Wall to be a useful training tool.

How great? One of the seven medieval wonders of the world

Length: 4,000 miles long

Built: Most of the current wall was constructed during the Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644

Cost of relief: 10 yuan ($1.25) to use portable toilets at the highest altitudes

Best souvenir: "I climbed the Great Wall" certificates

Easy way up: A cable car to highest points; it brings tourists down for a few yuan more

Vanity shot: The Great Wall is recognizable in a recent photograph taken from the International Space Station

From Beijing: The closest entry point is 37 miles north of the city. Half-day tours are widely available.

Source: Kris Hundley, Times staff writer, and www.wikipedia.org

In pictures, the Great Wall appears to undulate along the tops of steep mountain ridges in one smooth wave. It looks like you could skate the whole way.

In reality, the stone structure conforms to the Earth's contours through a never-ending series of steps, steep inclines and slippery descents.

Because the wall was intended to deter northern invaders, its architects figured out a way to slow the enemy even if they successfully scaled the crenulated sides, about 25 feet above the ground.

The steps along the top of the wall are staggered in height. One step is steep, the next shallow, effectively slowing invading armies.

For tourists, clinging to handrails and gasping for air at least provides an excuse to appreciate the scenery: steep, tree-covered mountains draped in mist, the wall itself stretching out behind and in front, punctuated with stone sentry watchtowers.

We arrived at the farther of two Great Wall sections at Badaling in late afternoon as the day's heat was wearing off. We were nearly alone when we heard the sound of feet running, and we turned to see a platoon of young Chinese soldiers doing their predinner exercise.

They wore green T-shirts, shorts and cheap green canvas sneakers. They flew past us in groups of four or five, clambering up steep staircases, hurtling down nearly perpendicular declines, sweating and laughing at the out-of-shape foreigners.

One soldier was smoking a cigarette as he jogged by.

KRIS HUNDLEY, Times staff writer