SURESH MISTRY AND THE GREAT TREK OF CHINA

Suresh in China

The Great Wall of China

Suresh undertook this trek to China to raise money to help people with Parkinson's disease. He said, “It was a hard, challenging and humbling experience. Our team supported each other with early morning wake up calls, long days, steep challenging climbs and descents over rough terrain, freezing nights in the tents and little sleep. My personal highlight was climbing to the 12th tower on the Great Wall in the Samatai region.”

Suresh Mistry's Challenge:
The Great China Wall Trek Experience

It was a hard, challenging and humbling experience. As a team we supported and helped each other to overcome early morning waking up, long days, steep challenging climbs/descends over rough terrain, up and down hundreds of steps, freezing nights in the tents and little sleep. My personal highlight was climbing to the 12 th tower on the Great Wall in the Samatai region. I felt a great sense of achievement crossing the finish line on the final day. The difficulties and pain was worthwhile enduring for a worthy cause. I am hoping that my efforts will make a difference to people with Parkinson's.

Great China Wall Trek Itinerary

Day 1 - Saturday 10 th Oct, UK – Beijing
We flew from London Heathrow to Beijing via Vienna with Austrian Airlines, departing mid-afternoon and arriving late the following morning.

Day 2 - Sunday 11 th Oct, Beijing - Gubeikou
We arrived in Beijing at lunchtime and was met by our Expedition Leader, Brummie. We boarded the bus with our lunch for the transfer to Lingxiu Hotel and the start of the trek. We settled into our rooms before having dinner and a full expedition briefing given by Brummie.
Transfer: 2 hours
Accommodation: Hotel

Day 3 - Monday 12 th Oct, Gubeikou – Tao Chun
After a short transfer, we started our trek with a 30 minute climb that took us to the Wall. The first section hasn't been restored and compared to other parts it is very overgrown with bushes and trees. We took a path that lead us down to a small reservoir where we have fantastic views of the Wall. After lunch we walked through a number of small rural villages until we reached the first campsite in a valley called Tao Chun.
Trek: 17 km
Accommodation: Camping

Day 4 - Tuesday 13 th Oct, Tao Chun - Simatai
From the camp at Tao Chun, we rejoined the Wall and continue along the Jinshanling section. This part of the Wall has wonderfully been restored in parts, but still involved a bit of scrambling to get up some of the higher steps in certain sections, and there were plenty of ups and downs. The wall dominates the landscape in awe-inspiring fashion. It curves, mounts, turns and falls with the lie of the land, snaking along the very ridge of the mountainous terrain. Watchtowers punctuate its spine, much like sparsely placed vertebrae. In the afternoon we reach the Simatai section of the Wall and had lunch.

The group walked down to the suspension bridge seeing some fantastic views before some group members continued to climb up to the 12th Tower while the remainder of group trekked into camp. The 12 th tower is 750 meters above sea level. This was a strenuous but very rewarding day with magnificent views.

Trek: 21km
Accommodation: Camping

Day 5 - Wednesday 14 th Oct, Simatai - Donggou
We started early leaving our campsite at Simatai and retraced our steps back the wall before heading towards Gangfang School. This was the longest day as we were not allowed to visit or stay at the school. We continued along dirt tracks and through small villages, gradually climbing until we reached the Wall at the Bailing Arch for lunch.

Once through the Wall we descend into a valley, walking down a cliff face before passing through a number of villages and fields with undulating terrain. The last part of the walk was on a road which took us to our camp.

In the evening we were rewarded for our hard day with a local cultural show, Chinese dancers and drummers, held at the Donggou camp .

Trek: 22km
Accommodation: Camping

Day 6 - Thursday 15 th Oct, Donggou - Lingxiu

Today, after leaving camp, we passed through the village and make our way along a track to hiking a loop through high ground, forests and valleys passing the ancient wall. After lunch we head out of the forest and walk through several villages before we arrived at the bank of the Lingxiu reservoir. Two boats transferred the group back to hotel, which was brilliant fun and the perfect way to finish the day.

Trek: 16km
Accommodation: Hotel

Day 7 - Friday 16 th Oct, Lingxiu – Potou - Beijing

After saying goodbye to our camp crew in the morning, we continued our trek that took us through forests with occasional views of towers on the Wall, to a saddle on a ridge. After a final descent we reached our finishing point, where we celebrated with champagne and fire crackers.

After a quick celebration and loads of photos, we boarded our coach for the journey back to Beijing where we arrived at the City Hotel. After settling into our rooms, we boarded the coach again for a quick transfer to our celebratory dinner to mark our achievements. What a fantastic night full of lots of laughter and some tears.

Trek: 10km
Transfer: 2 hours
Accommodation: Hotel

Day 8 - Saturday 17 th Oct, Free day in Beijing

I spent with a group of other trekkers visiting Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is where Communist architecture confronts imperialist, where Mao stood and proclaimed the birth of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and where his embalmed now rests. The Chinese flag rises and falls here each dawn and dusk, after which the square is off limits – a reminder of past troubles.

Forbidden City was built in 1420 and remained off limits for 500 years. Gone are the thousands of eunuchs, the concubines and the ‘son of Heaven'. The palace in the heart of the city and colours that assault the senses. A sea of golden roofs, curved to bring goodluck, meet blood-red columns and latticed wooden walls. Tiles are of deep jade and paintwork of brilliant blue is decorated with yellow dragons and phoenixes.

After late lunch I went with the group to a local shopping mall where haggling is a must, otherwise you get ripped off. In the evening I had a meal and few beers at the bar and restaurant which was situated near the hotel.

Accommodation: Hotel

Day 9 - Sunday 18 th Oct, Beijing - UK

After a light breakfast at the hotel, we boarded our bus and departed for the airport for our return flight to the UK.

We fly from Beijing to London Heathrow via Vienna with Austrian Airlines, departing Beijing early afternoon and arriving back in the UK later that day.

Great Wall Facts
The Great Wall stretches over approximately 6,500km (4,000 miles) the distance between Miami and the North Pole. Most of what can still be seen today was built during the Ming Dynasty (from 1368 to 1644) on a much larger scale and with longer lasting materials than any wall that had been built before. The primary purpose of the wall was to ensure that semi-nomadic people on the outside of the wall could not cross with their horses and return easily with stolen property.

The Great Wall's height averages from 15 to 30 feet; its width averages from 15 to 30 feet.

The death toll in the building of the first Great Wall was astounding: More than a million people died building this 3,000 mile section – that's 300 people per mile. It has long been rumoured that dead were buried in the wall. This has been found not to be true because decomposing bodies would have weakened the structure.

Three million people – 70% of China's population at the time were involved in building the Qin Wall.

According to historical records, the Qin Dynasty section of the Wall, covering 3,000 miles, was built in 10 years, or about 25 miles a month. At its peak the Ming Wall contained thousands of individual forts and towers and was guarded by more than a million men.

There is a Real Man Stone inscribed with Mao Zedong's words saying “You are not a real man if you have not climbed the Great Wall of China ”.

The myth that the Great Wall is visible with the naked eye from the moon was finally laid to rest in 2003, when China's first astronaut Yang Liwei observed that he could not see the barrier from space.

My sincere thanks to you all for your support and contribution.