Wednesday - Great Wall at Mutianyu

Great Wall at Mutianyu

This section of the Great Wall is about a 90-minute drive northeast of central Beijing (unless the traffic is bad, and it usually is). It took us nearly two hours to make the trek from our hotel on the south-central side of Beijing. We had read that the Mutianyu portion of the Great Wall was one of the more picturesque sections easily accessible from Beijing, and that it tends to be less crowded than the Badaling section. Both statements are seemingly true. I thought it was much prettier than the Badaling section we visited in 2004, and it was much less crowded than I expected.

Near the top of the ridge.

Nancy took a picture of us, then went back down the Wall a bit and waited in the shade for us to tour the section on our own. As you can tell from the pictures, the Wall snakes out along the top of the ridge for miles. Plus, you can see other sections of the Great Wall that are not directly connected to the main wall we were on. Nancy told us those sections were “beacon” towers, as opposed to watch towers.

Sweet taste of victory.

At about the second or third watchtower along our walk the girls asked for a Coke. We brought water, but they wanted a soda. We agreed and stopped at the next vendor (there were LOTS of them). When I asked how much he wanted for one Coke (about 16 oz. size) he told me 20 yuan (about $3.50). I told him it was too much. He asked how much I would pay and I told him 10 yuan. He countered with 15 and I told him flatly 10 again. He made a sound something like “bah!” and accepted 10. I heard him mutter “too low” under his breath as he handed me the bottle. I win. Wouldn’t it be cool if I could manage to do that the next time I buy a car??

Petting the donkey.

After we’d gone as far as we felt we could, we turned back toward the toboggan ride, which is where Nancy was waiting. As we passed through one of the last watchtowers, the girls let out a squeal when they realized there was a donkey in it. Apparently, one of the vendors hauls his supplies up to the Wall daily using the donkey. How on earth did we miss it on the way up?

When arriving at the Great Wall, we took a chair lift to the top and hiked from there. On the way down we took advantage of the 1500+ meter long toboggan ride. As we were waiting in line it started to sprinkle a little, which almost immediately closed the ride. After about 20 or so minutes with no rain they reopened the ride and we were off soon thereafter. The rules are pretty clear: no stopping, no filming while riding, and no bumping the people ahead of you. I came around a corner pretty fast and four toboggans ahead of me had come to a complete stop. I pulled up on the speed control to engage the brake, which would have been a little easier without the video camera running in my right hand at the time. My inertia was more than the brake could deal with and I went crashing into the back of Jerri’s toboggan. She wasn’t hurt, but it did startle her a bit. Of course I have the whole incident on video, including my promise not two minutes earlier that I wouldn’t run into her. Oops.

Jerri and the girls on top of a watchtower.

Rugged mountains around Mutianyu.

Eastern side of the Wall.

Steep approach to a watchtower.

Fastest way down the mountain...1 mile toboggan ride.

Great view from the top. From here we made it to the third tower pictured.