by James Dillard

Some sites don’t need any recommendation. While there are diamonds in the rough all over the world, there a handful of icons that epitomize entire regions. The Great Wall of China is one of those icons.

From the time they reach fifth grade, Americans know three things about China: egg rolls, fortune cookies and the Great Wall. The breathtaking bulwark, stretching over 6,000 kilometers, is in many ways the face of China to the world. Rumor has it that NASA astronauts saw the prolonged partition from space (they didn’t… it’s shorter than most suburban houses). Its sheer length, the source of its fame, is so immense that the remaining sections alone, are reported to be long enough, if stacked end to end, to run from New York City to Los Angeles.

But beyond its sheer length, the true beauty of the distinguished divider is in the details; length on the scale of the Great Wall can’t be appreciated in person. The Great Wall, however, has become a tourist icon because of its intricacy, the way it oscillates in unison with the terrain remaining always immutable yet changing at every bend.

The Mu Tian Yu section of the wall, located an hour and half outside of Beijing, shows off not just the detail of the wall, but its impact on the China as well. The view from Mu Tian Yu is stunning. Tree covered crags, as impressive as the wall and broken only by the occasional village, give the whole scene permanence. One feels as if the scene must look the same now as it did over 500 years ago when construction of the Mu Tian Yu section was completed.

It’s fair to say that the wall is almost as old as it is long; construction of the original sections began in the sixth century BC and continued for the next two thousand years as Kings and Emperors repeatedly tried to seal China off from marauders (usually Mongolians) from the north. To put the time period into perspective, consider that the Roman Empire hadn’t yet been founded when the wall was begun and had been dead for over a thousand years when it was completed.

This historical depth is another part of the Wall’s iconic status. It is the chosen face of China – the graphic they put on the visa’s they give to all the foreigners desperate to see the world’s up and coming power. The simple truth is that the wall is the Chinese Statue of Liberty – only it was made to keep the damn foreigners out, not to welcome them in… that and it’s 20 times older.

From the top of the fortifications you can see more than just the Chinese countryside. The creeping commercialization which has already swallowed other section is manifested here in the presence of a toboggan ride (41 Yuan, including mandatory insurance) that zips riders down from the legendary landmark amusement-park style. Around the base of the wall, a market has sprung up, selling everything from “I climbed the Great Wall” t-shirts (in both English and Chinese characters) to faux Communist paraphernalia.

Also visible is the underside of the Great Dragon of the East. While foreign tourists and upper crust Chinese enjoy the wall, peasants from the countryside sit inside the gate and sell water, snacks and cold beer for a small mark up. There aren’t many, but enough to remind the casual observer that they exist.

As long as there are tourists, the Great Wall will continue to draw attention. As the Olympic torch briefly outshines it, the Wall should remain high on every traveler’s to-do list. As Beijing rapidly modernizes for the games, globetrotters in search of a complete view of China should check out the wall. The Olympics, after all, will be repeated in four years; the Great Wall will be an icon forever.