Write-up by Brian Aragon
Photos by Franky Zhang
Though we were all a bit tired you could see the excitement in everyone’s face. All of us – myself included – had never been to the Great Wall. As we started the walk up we soon realized that there was what looked to be thousands of stairs up the side of a mountain between us and the wall. The walk was beautiful with all the colorful leaves and a thick fog that seemed suited for Halloween day. Thirty minutes later we made it onto the wall and it was breath taking to say the least. Sometimes words cannot describe the beauty or feeling that you have when you see a sight such as The Great Wall and at that moment everyone fell silent taking it all in. We spent about an hour walking on the wall mesmerized by the size and distance that the wall covered.
Instead of walking back down the thousands of stairs we had previously walked up we decided that the alpine slide down the side of the mountain sounded like a faster and more exciting way of getting to the bottom. Obviously when you put skaters on a slide where you control your own speed we are going to be going way to fast and getting yelled at by the staff. As I got into the van to head back I felt very lucky for the chance to get to experience something as amazing as the Great Wall and now I completely understand why this is one of the wonders of the world. After all these years I’m still amazed at the placed and experiences I’ve had because of rollerblading and especially on days like today.
Tomorrow I’m headed back to California and will also mark my second week of being in Beijing, China. I can honestly say this is one of the best trips I’ve ever been on and I can’t say enough good things about Franky and his girlfriend who showed me the best hospitality anyone could ever ask for!
It has been an awesome experience documenting my journey here in China and I want to thank Be-Mag for giving me the opportunity to share it with the world!
-Brian Aragon
Check out all live-updates of this tour here.
