Our third day in Beijing, and there was only one place we could go: the Great Wall. We chose to head to the section at Jinshanling, from where you can hike on the Wall for 10km to Simatai. Thanks to Leena and Nick for the fantastic recommendation here.
Our approach to the wall was a bit hidden, and this was my first glimpse of it, off in the distance and up on the ridge. That changed soon, and its massiveness and "how did they do that?" quality become apparent.
The hike was amazing. We passed 30 watchtowers in all. They were spaced so that men shooting arrows from each watchtower would be able to protect any part of the wall. Some sections were restored, others crumbling. It was a fascinating walk, as I started out awe-struck and basically stayed that way throughout the hike. The views just got better and better, and the wall curved up and down the ridge. Absolutely amazing, one of the neatest things I've ever seen. It was also quite the little hike, and so we didn't escape without breaking a sweat.
Other than that, I think the best thing to do is just to throw up some of the vantages of the wall I saw, no more commentary needed.
Well, maybe one more. It was just the day before we headed to the wall that I found out about graduate school coming through for the fall. I did my best to celebrate according to Great Wall traditions.
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