Getting to know the Chinese wonder – Alan x the World

By: Angelica Hernandez

We were away from Mexico living in Hong Kong for almost 2 years and before returning home we decided to visit the wonder of the modern world of China. We had to take advantage of the fact that we were close to visit one of those 7 wonders and thus conclude our adventure in Asia.

To do this, we initially focused on processing our visas to be able to enter “Mainland China”, because although a visa is not required for HK, for Mainland China one is, so we made an appointment at the HK offices and there we went, arriving very punctually with our filled out forms and when they attended to us the first thing they asked us for were the plane or train tickets to know the exact date we would travel. Of course, we didn’t have any tickets purchased, according to us, it would be like the visa process for the USA where they suggest you not buy anything for your trip until you are sure you get the visa. Well, for China it was not like that, we had to already have the trip set up with plane reservations paid in order to process it, and so in half an hour we planned our visit to Beijing, we looked for plane tickets and a hotel, to return to the visa office having everything and being able to do the paperwork. In the end, after several hours of waiting to review forms, photos, reservations, etc., they kept our passports and a few days later, we already had our visas ready to enter Mainland China.

With visas and plane tickets in hand, we decided what the trip would be like, which, due to the rush to prepare it, turned into an express trip and we decided to look for tours for our trip in order to make the most of our time.

The first tour was of course to the “Great Wall of China”, we went to the part called “Mutianyu”, the truth is that we had a perfect day, with a blue sky and a spectacular sun, we arrived and they took us on a bus up a little hill, and once there, we got on an open-air cable car, a little austere I would say, but perfect for the adventure in that wonder of the world, once you are at the top, you can walk on the wall as much as you want, or can…, I naively thought that I was going to walk a large part of it, but I realized that it is super difficult, between the sun, the height and the ups and downs, I ended up almost exhausted, but being up there and seeing all that green landscape is something that I will hardly forget, it was unbelievable where I was standing, I couldn’t believe that I was in a wonder of the modern world and I realized that dreams, that you never even dreamed because they were very, very far away, suddenly come true, truly an incredible experience and sensation.

To get down from there, the option was the slide, this is a channel where a kind of “avalanche” slides (cars with a lever to stop) which closes with a flourish the visit to this great place that now I understand why it was considered a world wonder!

After the Great Wall, the tour went to the “Summer Palace”, this is a park located near the center of Beijing and since 1998 it is considered a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, so we went from a wonder of the world to a heritage of humanity.

This Summer Palace is on the shore of a lake and it’s also great. That day there were a lot of people and the guide was almost running us, but we were able to tour it, even get on the little boats and tour the lake, so, even with so many people, it was totally worth it.

The next tour was to get to know a little more about the city of Beijing, we started at the “Tiananmen” Square and from there we were able to enter the “Forbidden City” which for almost 500 years was the official residence of the emperors of China and their court, of this place I can say that it is imposingly spectacular, from the outside it does not seem that big, yes, to buy the tickets we made a huge line, I do not know if they can be bought in advance, but it is definitely the option to avoid that long line, especially when the sun is as intense as that day we went, which, really, seemed to burn us.

Unfortunately, there were also a lot of people and we couldn’t enjoy it as much as we would have liked. I was struck by the fact that there were more national tourists than foreign ones, with a lot of small children looking at us strangely when they saw our Western features, but it was still a great experience to be able to visit a place like that, so important, with magnificent architecture and culture.

Finally, we visited the “Temple of Heaven”, which, to be honest, was my favourite after the Great Wall. I knew that it is one of the most important temples in the entire Republic of China and I loved that the dynasties thanked heaven for the harvests they obtained. Just like at the Wall, being there seemed like a dream to me. I wanted to take photos of everything. It really is a place to remember.

And so was our Express trip to Beijing, with a dry climate and a scorching sun, but it was worth every minute, where I continue to confirm that traveling changes your life, so as always, I invite you to travel, to any destination, I am sure that you will not regret it.

Greetings!