The most popular misinformation about the Great Wall of China is that it can supposedly be seen from the moon – a nice attempt to put into words its overwhelming proportions. It’s impressive enough just to see it up close or, even better, to walk on it.
The wall is particularly well preserved near Beijing and offers wide views of rice fields and the green, mountainous landscape, whose rugged topography the bulwark follows with almost surreal stringency. The wall, a symbol of strength and ultimately weak isolationist politics at the same time. Some visitors are exhausted from just a few meters of walking. Others run in the annual Great Wall Marathon. 42 kilometers up and down over about 4000 different narrow, partly knee-high steps, climbs of up to 300 meters in sultry heat, with the glaring sun on the battlements and darkness in the watchtowers – it is impossible to get into a smooth running rhythm.
Towards the end, those who have made it all crawl along on all fours. You have to want that, because the phrase “head against the wall” takes on a very special meaning. The reward for the effort are touching encounters with the locals, through whose villages the run also leads. The amused farmers probably think the athletes are a bit gaga, but they still cheer them on and give them field flowers they have plucked themselves. Some runners proudly carry the bouquet to the finish line. Experiences, gestures – small victories against the walls in the head.