The Misty rainy Great Wall of China.

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Today was our day to see the wall and we were up and off at 8am to do the section called Ba Da Ling ( 8 prominent peaks) on our own.
Stocked up on water and snacks and headed for Qianmen station (Dong Cheng district) and the subway loop line 2.
Take this line until you get to Xuanwumen station and transfer to line 4
Take this line to Xizhimen and get off here at Exit A and head off to Beijing North train station. It's well signed.
You will arrive at the station which has underground ticketing,do not go to this office, head up to the ground and go into the ticket office on the surface.
Just say Ba da ling and someone will point you where you have to go next.

You need to take an S train,¥6 per ticket per person, getting off at Ba Da Ling station which is 800metres from the wall entrance. You can only buy a one way ticket, everything is signed,just follow the crowds.
These S trains go every hour or so,big train, bullet style. You can get the train timetable on the net quite easily.

Great train journey through the suburbs of Beijing, then straight into the mountains and craggy peaks, very rocky,with autumn displays on the spindly trees, and little garden plots along the way. This area is in the Yanqing county still part of the Beijing municipality.

Sit on the left side on the way there because you can see the wall in many places prior to getting to the station.
This is the Guan Valley Scenic Area, which passes by Juyongguan Great Wall, a very rocky, steep and rugged wall and immerse yourself in the hundred-year-old Beijing-Zhangjiakou railway, first designed by Mr. Zhan Tianyou (1861 – 1919), the famous Chinese designer of the railway.

There was a fine misty rain and we had 1 umbrella but "hello" out popped people selling ponchos. Managed to get 2 for the original asking price of 1.

The wall cost ¥45 per person, you can also pay ¥50extra for a cable car ride. Yes Ba Da Ling is the most touristy and the most restored, but you still get a sense of what an enormous project it was and is.
This part was built around 1505 in the Ming Dynasty but some parts of the wall are 2000years old.
In 1988, it was enlisted in the World Cultural Heritage Directory by UNESCO. On July 7, 2007, it gained worldwide reputation once again: it was listed among the New Seven Wonders of the World.

The temperature was around 5 but we were working hard climbing up the north part to the highest aspect.This climb has some very very steep sections,uneven steps, inclines without steps,glad we took the easy experience! We were really pushing it at times and thankful for the handrails on each side. Wear good non slip comfy shoes. The average altitude is 1000metres along this section.

The weather got colder the higher we went, it rained more, there were still people in the thousands but at times we almost had some sections to ourselves. Sadly we were unable to see much more than 20metres ahead of us most of the time and miss the vista of the wall snaking in the distance as far as the eye can see.

It was awesome and so worth doing no matter what the weather is like, it truly is majestic. The man power might of China,the obedience to a cause no matter what, this really captures what this country is about.

Some lovely hot KFC in the train station waiting room for the 1pm return train hit the spot, as did the "coffee" on the train. Something hot in a cup with gelatinous little bits tasting of honey and vanilla.

It was raining down bucket loads and we thought just the time for a museum visit, indoors, warm, so military museum it was.
This is on train line 1, it's well marked, you exit the train station at Exit B. Cross the road and find the usual ticket line.

This is free, not sure if the inside is being renovated? but to my dismay it was all outside and you had to go between sheds containing tanks, guns, boats, planes, satellites, cars, rockets, missiles, all things war.
Russian,Korean, China,Austrian,Australian, Japan,USA pieces on display,huge puddles to try and avoid.

Rushed round like loons, getting wetter and grumpier(that was me, Martin was like a pig in mud) and then headed for Leo Hostel and warmth and dry feet.
Bought a yummy snack on the way from the station, what looked like a cooked lasagna sheet slapped on a gridle, beaten egg on top and then flipped over with various spices and sauces plus shallots sprinkled on, folded in 3rds and then chopped up and put into a container. ¥10 and very tasty. Went down well with an icy-cold coke which we had placed in our room fridge. Actually the fridge is just outside the room, namely the ledge on the windowsill, perfect temperature at this time of year.

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Photos

S train to Ba Da Ling
Goes from Beijing North Station for Y6 per person

Steep incline
This is not leaning into the wind, it is me leaning into the steep incline on the easy section of the wall

sleeping quarters
This spot would have been intended for a garrison of soldiers to sleep in

There was little graffiti
There were some stones with carved names and a little rubbish but overall very clean

Almost alone
Due to the worsening conditions we almost had some parts to ourself

Old person!!!!
Just kidding