China Ancient Trip, Day 10: Beijing

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A trip to Beijing is not complete without visiting the Great Wall. This was the day we looked forward to the most. As one of the best preserved Great Wall sections, we visited the Mutianyu section located about 60 km from the hotel. Rose told us that Mutianyu is older than the top-notch Badaling section and less crowded. Once we reached the Mutianyu valley, it was a pretty chilled atmosphere with the heart-pounding feeling of not being able to wait to get our hands on one of the world's seven wonders. The fully restored Great Wall section has been renovated, making it easier and safer to climb. We took a cable car to ascend to the wall section.


There are abundant souvenir shops at the base of the mountain.
It was pretty cold down there!
We bought some of these handicrafts
Waiting in line for the cable car ride
We made our way up to the hill!

I've got to know from the Wiki that the section has the largest construction scale and best quality among all other sections. It was built during the Qi dynasty and it is the most densely packed section with the watchtowers. 

The sky was a bit clear and the haze was nowhere to be seen. We were given about 2 hours to wander that section. Obviously, it was less crowded as compared to the Forbidden City or the Tiananmen Square. We took the chance for the token photographs. Now, let the pictures do the talking...

Some parts of the steps were quite steep

Taking this picture was really exhilarating.
Nope! We didn't go that far...
Mengangkang kau...
The view in between the parapet
Putting our names to the signature wall
Looking for a space to write down our names

A majestic view from afar
Some part ascended without stairs
After googling for info, I found out that it was actually a popular comedy/romantic film in China
Every photoshoot has its own beauty... love the yellowish color. 
Some part with the small stairs
Back to the cable car station, we followed the side path of the wall.
There were 23 guard towers and the cable car station stopped us at tower 14

After spending almost three hours at the Mutianyu, we headed back to the city center. We stopped at one of the local restaurants for lunch. I guessed we were really exhausted, so we called the day a bit early, not after Rose took us to the 798 art district.

One of the wall art in the district

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