Since tours to the more private sections of the Great Wall were closed, I was limited to public sections of the wall. One of the most intact sections of the wall is Mutianyu.
After arriving at the wall with a light snowfall, I waited for an eternity in the line for the cable car and this meant I made it up to the wall with little time wander around. We were given a time to meet back at a restaurant so taking the cable car up made the most sense but I probably could have climbed up to the wall in less time than it took waiting in line.
Some sections are very steep and have stairs that are only wide enough for one person so I was inevitably stuck waiting in lines on the wall just to pass some towers. After making it to the end of the Mutianyu section, I continued into the Jainku section of the wall that isn’t officially open to the public. This section is very steep, unrestored, and is considered “wild” as a result. The robust wall of the previous Mutianyu section quickly deteriorated to remnants of a wall. It felt more like hiking and there weren’t many people around so I finally started to enjoy walking the wall. Unfortunately, all those delays getting to this wild section of the wall meant I only had about 20 minutes before I had to turn back to make it to the bus. Maybe someday I’ll return to attempt a hike of the full 6000+ km of the Great Wall.
Next up was a smaller but much more vibrant ancient wall.
Click the image below to open the full gallery of photos I took during my stay in China