朱雪雪 12/11/2018

    I got onto the Great Wall for 7 times    (By Shue Chiu)

    巍巍长城，是中华民族的骄傲，是世界奇观和全人类的文化遗产，是卫星上唯一肉眼能见的人类建筑。全世界人民都向往能到长城参观。不到长城非好汉，到过长城无遗憾。我有幸前后七次登上了长城。

    The Great Wall is the pride of the Chinese nation. It is a world wonder and the cultural heritage not just of China but of mankind. It is the only man made structure visible from space. People all over the world yearn to visit the Great Wall. You'll have no regrets once you have been to the Great Wall. I was lucky to have climbed the Great Wall seven times.

    1961年刚回国，和北京华侨补习学校的同班侨生一起到八达岭长城参观。那时正值困难时期，长城上基本上没有其他游客。稚嫩的我们无忧无虑，在长城上嘻哈游玩。参观后在作文课里我写了一篇游后感想，记得有一段是：【长城真雄伟，我们走得都很累，可想而知当年建长城的老百姓是付出了多少血和汗，也可说万里长城是中国人民的血肉长城…..】，老师还将我的文章贴在班里的壁报上。

八达岭距北京约60公里，我们当时是坐火车去的，记得当时老师还给我们讲述了詹天佑的故事。詹天佑是中国首位铁路总工程师, 负责修建了京张铁路等工程! 京张铁路连接北京丰台区，经八达岭、居庸关……等地至河北张家口，全长约200公里，1905年开工修建，于1909年建成，是中国首条不使用外国资金及人员，由中国人自己设计并投入营运的铁路。

    After graduating from high school in Burma, I went to Beijing to continue my college education in 1961. During that time, on one holiday, we got a chance to visit the Great wall. The Chinese people ware having difficult lives at that time due to a natural disaster and some other external causes, therefore there were no other tourists on the Great Wall.

    After that first visit, I wrote an article for my composition class. I remember a passage I wrote that said,”The Great Wall is really magnificent, we felt so tired during the walk on the Great wall. It can be imagined that how hard and difficult it was for the people who built the Great Wall.” The teacher had posted my article in the class wall.

    Ba-Da-Ling Great wall is about 60 kilometers away from Beijing. We went there by train. I remember the teacher told us the story of Zhan Tianyou. He is the first Chief Railway Engineer in China, responsible for the construction of the Jing Zhang Railway and other projects. The Jing Zhang Railway is the first railway designed and put into operation by the Chinese without using foreign funds and personnel.  “We were on board and passed this railroad today” said the teacher.

    1962年我在广州暨南大学念书，1964年代表广州大学生篮球代表队去北京参加全国高校的篮球比赛，期间赛会组织球队去参观八达岭，这是我第二次登上八达岭长城，长城上的游客还是稀少。两年过去，我由原来的长辫子姑娘转变成一个短发青年，又在雄伟的长城上留下了可贵的倩影。

    In 1962, I studied in Guangzhou Jinan University. In 1964, I represented the Guangzhou University Basketball Team to participate in the national college basketball match in Beijing. During the match, the team was organized to visit Ba-Da-Ling. This is the second time that I climbed the Ba-Da-Ling Great Wall. Tourists on the Great Wall were still rare.

From 1961 to 1964, my hair style was changed from braids to short hair, and got a valuable photo on the magnificent Great Wall again.

    1987年我陪同父母亲跟随旅行团去中国各大城市游玩，在北京仍然是爬八达岭，这时我已移民美国，而且已是有三个孩子的“孩他娘”，由青年成长为中年，陪着老年的父母再次来到八达岭“当好汉”。

八达岭是明长城景色中的精华，是中外旅客游长城的首选，此时中国的建设已突飞猛进，人民生活改善，长城上的人潮一浪接一浪，再加上外国的旅游团，人头涌涌，显得十分拥挤。

    In 1987, I accompanied my parents to visit major cities in China.  By then, I had immigrated to the United States and had become a mother of three children.  I grew up from youth to be middle-aged and accompanied my elderly parents to Ba-Da-Ling again to be the "hero".

    Ba-Da-Ling is the essence of the Great Wall scenery and has become the first choice for all tourists to visit. At this time, China's construction has made rapid progress, people's lives have improved, and the waves of people on the Great Wall are one after another, which makes it very crowded.

    2010年，洛杉矶缅甸华中校友会组团去上海参加世博会兼游神州，35人的团队游了北京，西安，延安，山西，河南，上海等地，参观了7个世界文化遗产。

    这次在北京登上的长城是居庸关，离八达岭20公里。居庸关远在古代就被列为燕京八景之一，誉为“居庸叠翠”，同时也被号称为“天下第一雄关”。今时今日到长城旅游的中外游客数量已不能与往时相提并论，只能以人山人海来形容了。

    In 2010, the Los Angeles Myanmar Huazhong Alumni Association group went to Shanghai to attend the World Expo. A team of 35 of us visited Beijing, Xi'an, Yan'an, Shanxi, Henan and Shanghai. During the trip, we got a chance to visited seven world cultural heritage sites.

This time we visited Ju-Yong-Guan Great Wall in Beijing which is 20 kilometers away from Ba-Da-Ling.  Ju-Yong-Guan is listed as one of the eight scenic spots in Yanjing in ancient times, known as " Ju-Yong-Guan emerald", and also known as "the first pass in the world".

Nowadays, the number of Chinese and foreign tourists to the Great Wall is no longer comparable to that of the past, but can only be described by “people mountain people sea”.

    2012年，16位华友组团去新疆和西藏旅游，路经甘肃嘉峪关，悬臂长城筑于45度的山脊，不少团友都登上了顶峰。

    嘉峪关也称天下第一雄关。2008年北京奥运的圣火传递，奥运火炬曾登上了嘉峪关城楼的最高点。

嘉峪关是明长城最西端的关口，也可说我们游到了长城的尾端了。比起其他长城，也许是因地理位置关系，人流并不算多。

    In 2012, 16 alumni of Huazhong School traveled to Xinjiang and Tibet. We visited the Great Wall of Jiayuguan in Gansu Province. The Great Cantilever Wall is built on a 45-degree ridge, and many of us reached its peak.

    Jiayuguan is also known as the world's first pass. During the 2008 Beijing Olympic Torch Relay, the Olympic Torch also passed through the highest point of the Jiayuguan Pass.

    Jiayuguan is the westernmost point of the Great Wall. In other words, we have reached the end of the Great Wall.

    Compared with other Great Wall locations, due to its geographical location, the flow of people is not much.

    2016年，我们到内蒙古，宁夏及河北旅游。专程从承德坐车去山海关，全程239公里，三小时车程。秦皇岛山海关是万里长城的起点，依燕山，傍渤海，也有“天下第一关”之称。

    万里长城犹如一条巨龙，其龙头伸于渤海之中，人们俗称此地为“老龙头”。我们站上了老龙头，表示已来到长城的起点。

    从东海山海关长城的起点，北京附近的八达岭，居庸关，到西部长城的末端嘉峪关，我们都到过了，此生无憾矣！

    In 2016, we traveled to Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and Hebei. We special made a schedule from Chengde to Qinhuangdao Shanhaiguan which is 239 kilometers for 3 hours driving.

    Shanhaiguan is the starting point of the Great Wall. It’s location near by Yanshan Mountain and touching Bohai Sea, it is also known as "the first pass in the world".

    The Great Wall is like a giant dragon. Its leading point extends into the Bohai Sea. People commonly call it "the old dragon's head ". We stood on the old dragon's head and said that we had come to the starting point of the Great Wall.

    From the beginning of the Great Wall of East Sea Shanhaiguan, thru Badaling, Juyongguan, to the end of the Great Wall Jiayuguan at the West, we have all been there.There is no regret in this life.

    2018年，我们带领孩子孙子全家人回家乡广东梅州祭祖，顺便带他们到首都北京体验更多的祖国文化。这次我们攀爬的是慕田峪长城，距北京73公里。可在入口处坐缆车从山下直达长城脚下。比起其他长城，慕田峪长城起始段坡度相对平缓，爬起来不累，既可以欣赏到雄秀的北国风光，又可以节省体能。英国前首相梅杰，美国前总统克林顿及特朗普夫人等多位外国嘉宾都到过慕田峪长城参观。

    这里游客不算多，可以随心尽兴游玩，无需和其他游客擦肩接踵挤过道。

    这次是我人生的第七次攀爬长城，第一次上长城时是风华正茂的黄花闺女，如今七上长城，已是儿孙满堂的古稀老太，唏嘘！

    In 2018, we took our children and grandchildren to Meizhou in Guangdong Province to worship our ancestors. Then we took them to Beijing to experience more motherland culture.    This time we climbed the Mutianyu Great Wall, 73 kilometers from Beijing. At the entrance, there is cable car from the bottom of the mountain to the foot of the Great Wall.

    Compared with other Great Wall sites, the initial section of Mutianyu Great Wall has a relatively gentle slope and is not as tiring to climb. One can not only enjoy the magnificent northern scenery, but also save physical energy. Former British Prime Minister Major, former US President Clinton, First Lady Mrs. Trump and other foreign guests have visited the Mutianyu Great Wall.

    There weren't too many tourists there. We can enjoy ourselves and didn't have to walk shoulder to shoulder with other tourists on the narrow walkways.

    This was the seventh time in my life to climb the Great Wall. When I first climbed the Great Wall, I was a pure teenager. This time when I climbed the Great Wall, I am an old lady with a group of children and grandchildren.

    万里长城，是中华民族的精神象征。他像一条巨龙，攀缘在祖国神州大地上，蜿蜒曲折，东连大海，西接荒漠。走在长城上，就想起一首歌：“长江、长城，黄山、黄河，在我胸中重千斤。无论何时，无论何地，心中一样亲……”。

    长江、长城，黄山、黄河，我们的旅游团队都已到过。目前作为景点存在且比较知名的长城主要有：山海关、嘉峪关、八达岭、居庸关、慕田峪和雁门关。前五处已亲临攀登，期望今后仍有机会再上长城特别是还未到过的雁门关，即使是耄耋之年仍想去，长城有多高，我们的心志就应该有多高！

    The Great Wall is the spiritual symbol of the Chinese nation. It’s like a giant dragon, climbing on the land of China, winding from the East Sea to the Westside desert.

    Walking on the Great Wall, I think of a song: "The Yangtze River, the Great Wall, the Huangshan, and the Yellow River, all are important in our heart.  No matter when, no matter where, they are always in our heart...”

    The Yangtze River, the Great Wall, the Huangshan Mountains and the Yellow River have all been visited by our tourism team. At present as a scenic spots or well-known passes of the Great Wall are Shanhaiguan, Jiayuguan, Badaling, Juyongguan, Mutianyu and Yanmenguan. Thefirst five places I have climbed in person. I hope that there will be opportunities to go to the Great Wall in the future, especially the Yanmen Pass, which I have not yet visited. Even if I become an older woman, I still not give up.

    As high as the Great Wall is how high our aspirations should be!