Russia's world number three Ivan Ljubicic, who made his China Open debut here at the 500,000 US dollars tournament, traveled to the Simatai section of the Great Wall of China on Wednesday.

"The first thing I thought was, it is very hard to get here (from Beijing). It is a long drive and a long walk up here. It is not easy but definitely worth it," said the top seed here. "You can see way up and way down. It is just fantastic and the weather is beautiful as well.

"It was a fantastic decision to come here and of course to win some matches is also good. But to have this opportunity to come here and see the Great Wall, it is just amazing.

"Although my life I have read so many things about it, then the pictures and everything. But to actually sit here and to see it with your own eyes, that's unbelievable."

The Simatai section of the Great Wall, almost 130 kilometers from the Chinese capital of Beijing, was built in 1368 during the reign of Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty. The section, which spans 5.4 kilometers and has a total of 35 watchtowers, is considered to be one of the best-preserved sections of the Great Wall of China.

(Xinhua News Agency September 14, 2006)