Lost in Translation: A Journey to the Great Wall of China - Essay Sample

Growing up, I had heard so much about the Great Wall of China that I had made it my ultimate plan to visit it and marvel at its magnificence. China has always been a melting point of unique and breath-taking cultural points and activities. My love for the culture was significantly exacerbated by the famous Karate Kid movie starred by the renowned Jackie Chan as Mr. Han and Jaden Smith as Dre Parker. When I was about ten years old, I would envision myself embodying the character of Dre Parker. Often I would say, “if I were him, the great wall would have been the first point I visited when I landed off the plane in Beijing.” The only downside to the movie was that Dre did not fancy being in a foreign country, much less having to live there.

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Two years ago, I got the privilege of traveling to China, only that for me, it was only for a week. My parents had taken into account how much I had wanted to visit the famous wonder of the world, and thus, made plans to see it during our summer vacation. My excitement was through the roof as we embarked on our remarkable journey, one that I had dreamed about for a long time. However, no sooner had we descended our plane than our troubles started. Our first challenge was the language barrier. Getting a taxi driver from the airport who understood us, let alone respond to us, was the first mountain we had to climb. Regardless, we were able to find our way and book ourselves into a hotel for the night. Our second challenge was food. The reception on the ground floor had told us that there was a recently opened KFC a few blocks from our residence location, but it was easier to eat the readily available Chinese food at the hotel. As such, getting our taste buds acclimatized to the new food was not as easy as we thought.

In any case, on the third day in the city of Beijing, after visiting Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Temple of Heaven on the second day, we went to visit the wall. The structure was so massive that after walking and climbing its steep steps, we got tired quickly. We had just seen a small section of the wall. However, I was not disappointed as my dreams of visiting the wall had been actualized. We soon got onto a cable car, descended the mountains, and later got back to the capital. The sun had already set, and the light of day was slowly fading away. As soon as we got back in the city, we went into a mall, wanting to buy a few things before resting in our hotel rooms.

Walking into the mall, I was so tired that I could not keep up with my parents’ pace. I was always lagging, and I kept assuring them that I was just behind them at every moment they looked back at me. Suddenly, I could not see them in front of me. My eyes started to pace in every direction, my heart pounding out of my chest. My parents were nowhere to be seen. We had taken so many corners and elevators that I did not know whether to go forward or backward. As a result, I decided to sit on one of the nearby benches hoping they would notice that I was no longer behind them and would come back looking for me. Half an hour had now passed since. My face was now pale, and I was trembling with fear. We had now seemed to have lost each other.

My cell phone could not access any of my social media platforms, and the only Chinese cell phone number we had purchased at the airport was on my dad’s phone. Regardless, I had not memorized the number off-head. On the other hand, my mother carried my passport in her purse, and I had no money with me. I was in a panic mode as I could not identify myself to anyone around me or contact anyone. Now outside the mall, I sat on a pavement, hoping to see my parents. A moment later, a middle-aged Chinese lady approached me, asking me what the matter was with the only a few English words she could string together. I tried explaining my situation but could tell that she did not quite understand my plight. She, however, made a gesture with her hands that I interpreted as her wanting me to follow her. I followed her back into the mall and entered a burger shop. She bought me a meal, noticing how weak and tired I looked. As I ate, she gave me her phone and opened a translation application, where I typed what I wanted to say. Upon understanding me and a few back and forth translations, she took me to a Chinese police station just a few steps away from the mall.

Her calm aura and constant reassurance that I would soon be reunited with my parents helped me also calm down and be hopeful of eventual reconnection with my family. I gave away my name and passport details at the police station and was assured that my information would soon be circulated to the city’s hotels. Besides, the police would also actively put out the word to search for my parents. The advantage was that due to China’s data efficiency, the hotel we were staying at had our details, and coordinated with the police to inform my parents of my whereabouts.

I later learned that upon my parents realizing that I was nowhere to be found, they rushed back to the hotel, hoping that I had miraculously found my way back. At that point, they were informed of my whereabouts and soon came back in search of me. They found me sitting just outside the station and massively thanked the woman that had come to my rescue. Had it not been for her kindness, I would have probably gotten lost in one of the biggest cities of the world, with a language different from mine and en empty belly. My kind stranger, who had introduced herself as Mrs. Guo, had promised to stick with me- no matter the consequences- until my reunification with my family. As such, I was incredibly thankful to her for her tender heart. She was an angel that came to me in my hour of need.

The following day, we left Beijing and visited several cities and tourist sites, including Shanghai’s Disney land, after which we traveled back home. My disappearing incident in Beijing had forced my parents to resolve to never take their eyes off me for the rest of the trip or any future trips to foreign countries.