So You Want to See the Great Wall of China
Reflection.. hindsight is always 20/20 and a million other words to say “if I could go back, I would.” I don’t necessarily mean go back to China. I mean if I could go back to when I booked my ticket to China. See I’m American, and it can be pricey to get a visa for China, never mind the lengthy process. Thankfully, China has a 144-hour rule. Within this rule, you can fly to China so long as you’re staying for less than 144 hours. I was so this worked out well. Except there are a TON of rules and exceptions (learn from me!)
My first mistake was that I had a layover in Fuzhou on my way to Beijing. The whole purpose of this 144 hour rule is for layovers. This means you can’t have a layover for your layover. Also, Fuzhou is not part of this 144 hour rule area, which means that I couldn’t just land there and then make my way up to Beijing. So, while at the airport, I found all of this out and lost money on the ticket. I decided to go to Seoul instead for a few days in order to fly from there instead, this time direct to Beijing. You also need a flight out of China too, as this rule is supposed to be for layovers and connecting flights. So, I booked a ticket to Hawaii from Beijing with a layover in Seoul.
This was my second mistake. This rule is for layovers! That means that you can’t fly from Point A to Beijing, back to Point A, otherwise what’s the point of Beijing? Meaning, you can’t fly from Seoul to Beijing back to Seoul, so I had to cancel (and lose the money) on that ticket too. I had to book something so I booked a ticket to Tokyo just to get out of China.
Once I finally landed, I got some authentic (and amazing!) Chinese food. I even ate jellyfish which was slimy yet tasty. I wouldn’t order it again, but it was good for what it was! My friend and I walked around a bit before we ordered a car to our place near the Great Wall. It was about a 2 hour drive. We arrived exhausted. The next day it was time for the Great Wall. We unfortunately got a late-ish start to the day, but we booked a car to the wall and were able to walk around for a bit. We even took a magnetic slide up and down the side of it which was an unexpected attraction and very cool.
After we saw the wall, we went to a dumpling making class put on by our hotel before heading to bed, I had a flight to Tokyo the next day!
It was a quick trip to China, but worth it and if you’re thinking of going… I highly recommend making sure you have all the paperwork you need!
