Great Wall of China (2007-2008)

As my teaching job was in Tianjin, which was only an hour away from Beijing by bullet train (now shortened to half an hour), we paid the capital a number of visits over the course of the year. Justifiably too, as there was much to see.

I always had it in my head the Great Wall was just a very tall wall next to Beijing. It wasn't until I went to visit 'it' the first time that I realised it is indeed very tall, but being 'next to' the capital still meant a 3 hour bus ride north of the centre! Of course, as the most important defence system back in the day, it can't just be a city wall surrounding the immediate perimeter - how foolish of me.

You can't just visit 'it' either. The name is actually slightly misleading; the 'Great Wall' isn't just one long wall stretching from the east coast of China all the way to the Silk Road in the west, but rather it contains many sections, some of which are completely broken beyond repair.

As you can see below, I went to two different sections of the Great Wall, north of Beijing, during my year in China. Towards the end of the year I also saw another section much further west, near the Silk Road - but that's for another post later :)

The Simatai (司馬台) section

The parts that are open to the public have been extensively repaired by the government. Not quite the same Great Wall that was first built by Emperor Qin, but it was nonetheless exciting to be walking on this 8th wonder of the world :)


A much more remote, less touristy section, which was also less repaired

Sadly I can't remember the name of this section, or how we got there :(