The Great Wall

I had a chance to visit the great wall, or at least the tourist sites where the great wall had been re built. The place I visited is called Mu Tian Yu and it lies about 1 hour’s drive north of Beijing. The pollution in Beijing is infamous and unfortunately reduced the visibility somewhat, the day of my visit.

The section I went to is very commercialised. Aside from the usual tourist shops and restaurants, there is a chair lift to take you to the top and a metal bob sled run for keen tourists to take themselves back to the bottom.

The reality is that vast sections of the original wall have been quarried over the years to the point where in places it has almost disappeared. There are hard to get to sections where the original stone is still largely intact and has been slowly reclaimed by nature. These areas are known as the “Wild Wall”.

Not far from Mu Tian Yu, just over the farthest rise out of site of the tour busses, is the real wall. These areas are mostly off limits but some guides and companies have recently gained access to them and even specialise in hiking picnics to the areas that are more easily accessible. Butterfield Robinson is one such company and my friend Norman took the pictures that are included here. He was lucky to go on a clear day in late summer.

Finally, don’t even think about going there in the Chinese holiday season (February and the first week in October) as you will not be able to move around freely due to the vast crowds.