***
N. China
Day 9 - 7th November - Great Wall (Mutianyu) (Part 2)
Mounting a cannon
Sitting near a cannon
Really strange souvenir to take
Mountains and sole leaf on a branch
Interior of a tower
On top of this tower, the wind suddenly threw up a flurry of leaves, which was a magnificent sight:
Flying leaves and delighted Chinese
Flying leaves without delighted Chinese
Another mountain view, with unrestored sections in the distance
Another mountain view, with unrestored sections far in the distance
Restored section, cable car station and Homage to Mao ("忠于毛主席" - "Loyalty to Chairman Mao")
A Red Bull cost ¥15. I think on Taishan near the top it had cost ¥10.
Another near-vertical section
"Vendors only" - this is how they avoid paying the admission fee
"Flattering Angle"
Yet another vertical section
And then, we came to the end of the restored section of the Wall.
"Non-tourist section. No admission!"
Naturally, there was no fun in stopping there, so with some other intrepid tourists, we continued. Well I did anyway - Charis stopped after a while.
Ruins stretching into oblivion
The overgrown unrestored section
Unrestored section and graffiti
At parts the wall (in the sense of what was to our left and/or right) had eroded away, making for the possibility of an exciting tumble down the slope
Ruined tower
From my height, I could survey the wall extending into the distance - and decided to stop there, as it wouldn't get better. While it would probably get harder (clambering around towers and the like)
More unrestored sections
A survey of the distance I had hiked, with the paen to Mao in the background
Ruined tower
I then made my way back
Graffiti
Unrestored section which ran perpendicular to the official route
Pensive man
Gateway to the Unknown
Charis Climbing
I'm not sure wth these ang mohs were doing.