I had wanted to go here since I was a little kid.  I have a picture of my father standing on the great wall in his Marine uniform after the end of WWII and I wanted to be in the same place as him if not physically, at least symbolicly.

The achievement in building the wall is nothing short of remarkable.  Once you start to climb the wall you learn very quickly that the height and width of each step is unique unto itself.  Some of the steps were easy to climb and some actually so high it was tough to do. 

The section of the wall we visited was just north of downtown Beijing.