The Great Wall of China is 5,000 miles long. It would take months to walk its length. And people have done it - William Geil, a US explorer and geographer completed hiking the entire Great Wall in 1908. It took him 5 months. Maybe he sprinted. He took a large number of photos and kept more than 200 diaries. In 1909, he published the first book in the world about the Great Wall.
Besides Geil, there's at least 7 people who are on record as completing the walk. Their stories are HERE.
The most important person is Dong Yao-hui who has spent his life preserving the Great Wall. He is often cited as the first to travel the entire length of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall. This is the most well-preserved section and the part most commonly referred to. The trip took 508 days.
"Instead of referencing a map, they simply followed the wall and recorded their own path on paper as well as their observations on the wall’s condition. At night, they usually slept inside the wall’s gates and fortresses, which were physically separated from the main structure, so they could document them too."
The daily visitor cap is 65,000 in the popular Badaling section. "Badaling Great Wall, about 60 km (40 mi) northwest of central Beijing, was the first section restored to open to tourists in 1957. It is easily accessible and has easy walking conditions."
"He Who Has Never Been to the Great Wall Is Not a True Man
Badaling has a stone engraved with "不到长城非好汉" ('not arrive Great Wall not good man'), a famous line from one of Mao Zedong's poems, commonly translated as per the above heading.
Continuing the theme, the highest point of this section is called 'Good Man Slope' (好汉坡 Hǎohàn Pō /haoww-han por/)."
And who has visited this spot? About 500 state leaders and VIPs, including presidents Nixon and Reagan, Prime Minister Thatcher, and Queen Elizabeth II. Should you start planning for your turn? You can take a look at the 11,000 reviews or 8.000 photos to get a sense of the experience. Crowded.
My conclusion is that it is too late for a visit to the Great Wall of China at Badaling. So I guess we are will not be "true men". And take that off the bucket list.
Here's a montage image of walls in the National Gallery.
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