THE GREAT UNDERWATER WALL.docVIP

THE GREAT UNDERWATER WALL 　　For centuries， the Great Wall symbolized the edge of civilization； precariously perched on sweeping mountainsides and barren plains， the wall seemingly echoes the untamed spirit of the wild north. It seems a shame， then， to trudge along with the tourist hordes， scaling the same sections of the wall over and over again. There are plenty of alternatives. You can camp in old watchtowers or scrabble up the broken joints of the unrestored lengths of the Great Wall. You can saddle up for a horseback ride to the top， or hop on a toboggan and slide down. 　　But， scuba diving is defi nitely off the wall’s beaten track. 　　Imagine fl oating above the bricks and masonry， gliding up and down the thick， heavy fortifi cations， darting in and out of watchtowers， tracing the arc of ancient stone steps， one by one， all while hooded by a dark sheet of water. 　　The point of most Great Wall visits is to climb up to a place high enough to see the “sweeping grandeur” the monument exudes as it snakes along craggy ridges and peaks. “They focus on the ‘Great’ but not the ‘Wall’，”quips Steven Schwankert， founder of the diving outfi t SinoScuba， Beijing’s fi rst offi cial diving school. 　　The submerged wall has been a local secret for years， accessible only to intrepid Chinese divers who had few other options for diving spots near Beijing. “I heard about [the Great Wall dive] through the grapevine，”recalls Schwankert. “I thought it was just too cool！ I mean， can you dive the Pyramids？” 　　While Beijing is not exactly a desert （yet）， the region still suffers from periodic droughts that can severely limit water sports. Diving conditions in much of China（with the exception of Hainan） aren’t ideal， but on the fl ip side， the diving here has a more adventurous DIY feel. You dive wherever you can get away with it―an attitude that takes adventurous divers surprisingly far. Schwankert himself has squeezed into wells， organized shark dives in local aquariums， and cau