5.06.2005
The Wild Wall.
Last Sunday we went to a "wild" section of the wall called Jian Kuo. In this case, "wild" simply means that it hasn't been restored or turned into an official tourist attraction: you just park, hike up to the wall, and then climb around pretty much anywhere you want. (I talked more about the Wild Wall a few days ago in a post where I promised to put these pictures up on the next day, by which I apparently meant sometime in the next week. But here the pictures are, so it is, as they say, all good. Well, some people say that, anyway, although one of them is usually not me. Unless, of course, I'm trying to make a joke. Which I was earlier, so it's still all good.)(Ding!)
Anyway, enough about that (AKA nothing). Here are the pictures. There's not much to say (note that this fact won't stop me from saying things): it's a part of the Great Wall; it's crumbling; it has weeds and bushes and sometimes even trees growing out of it; and it's someplace I highly recommend you visit if you ever happen to be cruising around the Beijing countryside in places foreigners don't normally go, or so I'm told.
Whatever. Here are the pictures.
You could actually climb up onto the tower in the foreground of this picture. Which I didn't do--I was busy climbing other parts--but it was an option.
Crumbly ...
Another view of the climbable tower mentioned above.
Some parts were easy to walk on, and some required a bit more caution, since the wall is along a hilltop and falling would not be a good thing. This was one of the tricksier parts.
Who is this handsome devil in a knock-off Polo (TM) shirt? This set of stairs required some serious scrambling. But it didn't require any alliteration at all--I just do that for fun.
Coming down was a bit harder.
This was the old lady who charged us 6 cents each--half of one Yuan--to use the bathroom. Apparently that also gets you a photo-op. Such a bargain, I know.
Anyway, enough about that (AKA nothing). Here are the pictures. There's not much to say (note that this fact won't stop me from saying things): it's a part of the Great Wall; it's crumbling; it has weeds and bushes and sometimes even trees growing out of it; and it's someplace I highly recommend you visit if you ever happen to be cruising around the Beijing countryside in places foreigners don't normally go, or so I'm told.
Whatever. Here are the pictures.
You could actually climb up onto the tower in the foreground of this picture. Which I didn't do--I was busy climbing other parts--but it was an option.
Crumbly ...
Another view of the climbable tower mentioned above.
Some parts were easy to walk on, and some required a bit more caution, since the wall is along a hilltop and falling would not be a good thing. This was one of the tricksier parts.
Who is this handsome devil in a knock-off Polo (TM) shirt? This set of stairs required some serious scrambling. But it didn't require any alliteration at all--I just do that for fun.
Coming down was a bit harder.
This was the old lady who charged us 6 cents each--half of one Yuan--to use the bathroom. Apparently that also gets you a photo-op. Such a bargain, I know.
