Beijing » A thousand years ago, invaders were met by bow and arrow at the Great Wall of China.

On Thursday, the people of China were equipped with cameras, phones and disarming smiles.

From the moment the Hawaii men’s basketball team stepped off the bus in full uniform at one of the world’s wonders, heads turned, then bodies, until a swarm followed the Rainbow Warriors in pursuit of pictures, autographs and conversations.

The UH players were happy to indulge the mass of basketball-crazed people, who came to marvel at a part of world lore and got a bonus in the form of the ‘Bows.

Eventually the players extricated themselves from their new fans and marched onto the centuries-old wall in the mountains a couple of hours outside Beijing.

UH players, a head or more taller than the rest of the crowd, shouted excitedly to each other from distant battlements and climbed up steep inclines to the next viewpoint, which never failed to outdo the last in splendor.

There hadn’t been a clear, blue-sky day for the duration of the trip — until now. It was the team’s first time at the Great Wall (except for assistant coach Brandyn Akana) and was quite the finale with only a day and half in Japan remaining on the Warriors to Asia tour.

It was agreed: What a way to cap a China stay.

"You really didn’t know what to expect, but it exceeded all expectations," UH coach Gib Arnold said. "The majesty of it, you were just amazed at how they built this wall and it’s just a powerful symbol of the country and its people. I thought it was a perfect last day in China."

Junior forward Joston Thomas worked his way up to a particularly hard-to-reach tower and yelled at the top of his lungs.

So, um, ever expect to be here?

"Naw, definitely not in a million years," Thomas said. "But it’s a great experience, especially being a kid from Washington, D.C., and coming from where I come from. A lot of people don’t even make it out of the neighborhood. So me being to Hawaii first and on the Great Wall right now, it’s very amazing."

People stuffed themselves together and moved en masse along the wall, even in the distance where it snaked on and on over hills until it disappeared out of sight in two directions. Changing course in midstream wasn’t recommended.

Pi‘i Minns had no idea the wall would be that packed, but he braved the crowds to take mental snapshots and make the day last, crossing an item off his bucket list as a college sophomore.

"Not in my wildest imagination I thought I would be climbing the Great Wall. Just being here, everyone was like, ‘It’s so far, it’s so hot,’ but with the time we had I tried to push as high as we could go," the guard out of Kamehameha said. "Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and very grateful for the chance to just be here and taking it all in."

One of the team’s new players, junior forward Hauns Brereton, wore his UH jersey for the whole stay, even after the team completed a group photo overlooking the wall. He paid the price for it.

"The problem was the people kept stopping me. I left my regular clothes on the bus. This is what I had, so everybody was telling me to take a picture," UH’s unofficial ambassador to China said, "I had to run to catch up with the team to get to the top. I’m not complaining though, it’s a fun life."

The Rainbow Warriors left the wall sun-seared and with weary legs, but felt it was worth it, both as a life experience and a bonding exercise.

Players wondered out loud how the wall, tons upon tons of stone, was constructed. Brereton had an answer for that, tying it in with the concept of a team.

"Even the Great Wall of China was built one block at a time," he said. "I think we built a couple of blocks here. The season is going to be great, too."