With temperatures below zero degrees,  the weather in Beijing was definitely cold for me – a person from a tropical country.  I came to a thought that my stay in Beijing would not be complete without visiting China’s precious treasure, The Great Wall of China. As a result, on the third day after breakfast, we hired a car to get us to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall.

on the way across the countryside

Mutianyu Great Wall area

There are a few sections nearby Beijing that are open to public and the famous one would be the Badaling section. This is where the tour bus normally goes. Although a little bit far, I still opted for Mutianyu section in order to avoid the large crowd. The journey took about 2 hours from the city through countryside areas out off Beijing’s radar.

souvenir stalls

cable car ride

This part of the Great Wall is connected with Jiankou in the west and Lianhuachi in the east. Mutianyu is the only segment that has a cable car or gondola to transport visitors up the mountain. At the foot of the mountain, there were lots of souvenir shops along the pathway. Tickets were priced at RMB80 for the cable car and the park entrance cost another RMB45.

After a short 10 minute ride up the cable car, at last I set foot on the Great Wall itself. I was Indeed excited to be there. Moreover there were fewer tourists at the time, which I found worth the long journey. One could spot many watchtowers up there but I didn’t walk to all of them as it was quite far. The section that is open to tourist is only limited to a 2km stretch.

The view from up there was completely stunning as u could see how far the Great Wall stretches through the mountainous areas. I spend about 5-10 minutes at each stop while enjoying the scenic view. It made me think how the heck did those guys built this thing in the 15^th century with no modern technology as what we have now. No doubt it became one of the 7 wonders of the world.

Luckily when I was up there it was noon so the sun was up high and temperatures began to rise plus the hiking made me feel warmer. However, I was quite disappointed when I learned that one could get down the mountain on a toboggan ride, but the place is closed during winter times. We had to get down using the same mode of transport that we came.

Uighur Camel

Welcome next time?

Just as we reached down, there were more souvenir shops along the pathway where the sellers were quite aggressive. They kept bugging u to buy if u show some interest on their items. Further down, there’s one Uighur Camel being placed at one corner and the owner charges those who would like to take picture with it or even take picture of it alone. I managed to snap a few shots from distance thanks to my 18-200mm lens.

For me, all the views are worth every penny and time spent. We head back to Beijing after that with full of great memories.