The section closest to Beijing is Badaling, approximately 70km away. There are other sections too, most notably at Simatai and Mutianyu, but they’re farther out, Simatai being 3 hours one way. I’d been warned that Badaling was commercial, crowded, and not authentic (it was reconstructed in the 20th century, so what you see is modern). Mutianyu, we decided; but we missed the last bus to Mutianyu simply because our guide book had the timings wrong. We couldn’t think of not seeing the Wall – and we were down to the last day of our trip – so Badaling it was.

We bought tour bus tickets (90 RMB per person, including return fare and entry) at the Beijing Sightseeing Tour Center at Qianmen, and got into one of the buses that leave every ten minutes for Badaling. Our tour guide was an efficient girl who quickly began her spiel – unfortunately only in Chinese. Thankfully, she knew enough English to be able to give us vital information: where to find the bus once we’d finished with the wall; what time to get back; and so on.

An hour or so later, we were in Badaling. It was as bad as everybody said it would be: shops, tour buses by the score, food courts, a huge Beijing Olympics 2008 sign across a hill. The worst part is that you can’t avoid it; the route up to the wall is lined all the way with commercial establishments. We refused offers of Chinese fans, fake jade, I climbed the Great Wall T-shirts and much more before finally making it to the Wall.

The Wall’s a combination of steps and ramps, grey stone and steep in places. Climbing isn’t much of a problem unless you’re woefully out of shape, but the descent can be dangerous. What bewildered me was the number of stiletto-wearing women who were gamely climbing up – and down. How do they manage it?

Fending off hawkers (they’re up there on the Wall, selling souvenirs, mineral water, even ices), we toiled up far enough to shake off most of the crowds. Some appreciative admiring of the view – the Wall is impressive – and then we edged our way down, holding on to the rusty railing along the parapets, stopping for a break at a watchtower. We were down at the bus parking with an hour to spare, which we (in classic touristy style) spent buying cheap trinkets as souvenirs.

Verdict: attempt the Wall at Badaling only if you have no choice. It’s the Great Wall of China, yes; but there’s a superficial and irritatingly commercial feel to it that’s hard to get rid of.

We chose to go to Badaling because this part of the wall had a cable car to and from its summit and has been well-restored. The down side is that this part of the wall is one of the most commercialised, and we would be guaranteed some heavy sells. It was an absolutely superb day visibility would be good. We relished our leisurely journey on the cable car (60RMB for a return journey), the wall profiled against the clear blue sky, but on occasions the ground seemed perilously close.

A short walk from the cable car and we were at the entrance for the Great Wall – one small problem we’d failed to buy our ticket from the small booth that’s tucked away to the left of the exit from the cable car. A gentle stroll later, we are climbing the staircase to top of the wall, and within seconds, we are standing on this structure. It snakes its way along the contours of this mountainous region and we were left truly amazed but wondering how defendable this huge border really was. I guess the true strength of the wall was its vastness and the statement it must have made to potential assailants. I certainly couldn’t resist imagining life in the guard towers firing off the odd arrow or two at marauding insurgents or setting off the first beacon to transmit a message back to the military headquarters. Indeed for a moment I pictured the distant hoard of oncoming tourists as backup troops. This place just encourages fantasies!

We hauled our way up to the top turret passing many a wheezing tourist as the struggled to negotiate various depth and width of step on the steep slopes of the wall. But the view from this upper vantage point is magnificent as the surrounding countryside is laid out in front of you like an intricate tapestry. Once we shrugged off the traders selling personally engraved plaques, scarves and T-shirts with slogans like "I walked the Great Wall," we were able to find a peaceful spot and pick out the wall’s looping manoeuvrings along the contours of the land.

The Great Wall had been on my "must-do" list for several years and as we paused for breath I realised that words to describe this wonder of the world were hard to find. I do remember reading that Richard Nixon had summarised his experience with the words "it sure is a great wall". I’m not sure I can top that!