Warrior Insider

A trip to China would not be complete without a visit to the Great Wall of China.

The Hawaii basketball team took a four-hour train ride from Shenyang to Beijing, and then stayed overnight at a Sheraton hotel in Beijing to assure that a visit to the Great Wall would be included in the itinerary on Thursday, August 18.

The Warriors were not disappointed.

For starters, the team was greeted with beautiful weather, which hasn’t been the case in some of the other cities of China during this Warriors to Asia tour. It created the perfect backdrop for the Warriors as they posed for various team pictures along the Great Wall.

“It was great. We were able to take some photos, which we’ll keep forever,” Hawaii head coach Gib Arnold said. “It was just really neat. We’re having a phenomenal time.”

The Warriors wore their game jerseys for the photos, so several other visitors to the Great Wall stopped the players and coaches to pose for pictures.

The Great Wall stretches for more than 3,500 miles across Northern China, and the Warriors were able to experience only a few miles of it due to time constraints. But the section that the team climbed featured some steep inclines that turned the visit into an unexpected workout.

“There’s a reason why they call it great,” Arnold said. “It’s steep and its massive and it goes on forever. It’s very, very impressive. For the people to build what they did is absolutely amazing. And just the feeling here is very special.”

Freshman Brandon Jawato said: “I did have a good workout – my calves are burning.”