The Great Wall

The Great Wall extends from east to west. There are sections of the wall that are open to the public and the one closest to Beijing was the Badaling Great Wall, some 30-45 minutes the hotel. It was cold (mid 30's F) and windy.

I've always pictured the Great Wall to be easily traversed, where I can walk, setup my tripod and take pictures. There are sections where this is probably possible but the Badaling section of the wall is about 800 meters high (some 2400+ feet). Going up was tough. Working on the stepper machine in a gym is nothing compared to climbing the first 100 feet up the wall. I was breathing hard. People around me were taking their time to go up. People would stop on the way up and sit on the steps. Anyway, it's still a great experience to see the Great Wall.

The purpose of the wall was to keep the Mongolians from invading China. Now that I've seen and been to the wall, I'd certainly have second thoughts about doing so. If I was a one of those attempting to invade China in the past, I'd look at the rugged mountain range, look at the wall and say, "ahh. let's just go home. let's mind our own business".

Anyway, here are my pictures taken at the wall - please click