Building borders in the form of walls is an age old concept; one that predates the birth of Jesus Christ. Yes, it is true. Think Wall of Jericho in the Bible. As with all borders the wall of Jericho was built to fortify the city. In those days, there were raiders and invaders and so to prevent the city from being attacked and destroyed, walls were built. One could say that this was a strategy of war. The proven theory is that, you cannot control or destroy something or a place if you are unable to get inside. In fact, throughout the decades, other countries have adopted this concept; to keep others out, build a wall. So no, this building a wall to keep others out mantra is not something new that a certain president invented. All he did was to revisit something old and used bigotry to repackage it. The ultimate marketing strategy, I would call it. However, since we live in the age where most people practice critical consumerism, his strategy amounted only to words spoken on a whim.
There are, however, many other walls or borders (whatever you choose to call it) that were built and still exist today. These walls are such a vital part of not just their countries history but the world’s as well. So much so that they are also listed on the World’s Heritage site and have become exciting travel destination for tourists around the world. Some countries, like China, even have replicas of the original structure built around other cities within their country. As an average traveler, I have been extremely lucky to visit one of these city borders.
In 2019, before the pandemic, I had the opportunity to visit a replica of the Wall of China. Now, having lived in China for months, I was convinced by some Jamaican friends to leave my warm bed, venture out into the neighboring city and go walk a 5,000 meters long wall in winter. Me being the adventurist jumped at the idea. Let’s just say being homesick in a foreign country will cause you to agree to anything. So I went.
Located in the Zhejiang Province in the City of Linhai is a replica of the Great Wall of China. There are rumors that this wall served as a model for the actually “Great Wall of China”. I was however, unable to confirm if this is actually true. The construction of this stretch of the Great Wall began in the Jin Dynasty (265-420) and was not finished until the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) Dynasties. Originally standing at 6,000 m (19,685 ft) in length, and still having 5,000 m (16,400 ft) of the structure preserved today, the wall was built to protect the city from invasion and flooding. Therefore, as a defensive barrier for the city, this wall has been dubbed “The Southern Great Wall of China.” Yes, quite a mouthful to say I will admit.
Let me tell you, this journey is not for the faint-hearted. After hours of driving, we finally got to the place where we would enter the wall. I changed my shoes, bought my ticket and was now ready to enter the wall. When I questioned where the entrance was, I was pointed to what looked like five hundred stairs reaching to the sky like a ladder. I was dumbfounded but was assured that it was nothing to climb. Again, I believed. However, one hundred steps later, my aching legs and shallow breathing pointed mocking my naivety. I looked back at the steps that I had climbed and contemplated turning back. But, I had gone too far and now I was curious to see what the excitement was about for miles of concrete, so I continued. Approximately 200 steps later, I was at the top and met with a round of applause by those who passed me struggling on their way up. I was too tired to be embarrassed.
The exhausting journey to the top was rewarded when I look at the view. The top boasts a panoramic view of the city. Displayed below was this beautiful scenery inclusive of a garden, the river snaking through the garden and the buildings in a shapes and sizes scattered almost strategically to enhance the scenery laid out before my eyes. Then there is the greenery of the mountains which provided a backdrop to the city. As the building stretch towards the sky seemingly competing with the mountains in its background, everything now looked like miniature versions of themselves. Everything looked peaceful and calm.
Upon entering the wall, I was surprised to see that the rest of the journey was absent of stairs. In fact, as far as my eyes can see were ascending stairs. My friends must have seen the terror on my face and so we came to the consensus that we would go slow, stop at rest spots on the wall and then leave at the first exit. As we walked and talked, we realize the wall ascends and descends, following the slopes of the hills. Before long we arrived at the first watch tower and we were greeted with drums. We stopped and entertained ourselves, laughing at the fact that we are Caribbean natives of African descendants who cannot play the drums.
After resting, we slowly moved on and although the journey was long and tiring, we were never bored. At different points on the wall, there were things for us to see and interact with. At one watchtower, there were hallowed out centuries made from metal. We stopped and each individual took their time memorializing the journey through pictures. Before we knew it hours had passed and it was getting late and we were nowhere near the exit. It was then we also realized that we were the only ones left on the wall. Naturally, panic crept in. We tried leaving the wall about twice using paths that we thought was the exit but we ended up getting lost both times. There were no phones on the wall, we spoke very little Chinese and so calling the number on the ticket would have been futile. We wandered around some more until an elderly man came to our rescue and pointed us in the right direction.
Under twenty (20) minutes’ walk and we were on our way to the exit. As we walked on the wall, I looked over the wall and noticed that there was another community on the outskirt. There were children playing along the wall and voices mixed with laughter can be heard climbing up the lush, green trees and onto the wall. Life, beautiful life exists on the outside of those walls. In that moment, I realized that walls and borders are not only protective edges for keeping invaders or the bad out, but they also keep the good out as well.
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