Great wall as massive, steep, panoramic as you imagined!

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The Great Wall is a must-see on any visit to China, especially Beijing, which is close to several sections of the wall, including the Mutianyu, which I visited this morning. It is a section of the wall that was part of the original wall built in the 200-300 BCE by the Jin emperor, then rebuilt by the Qing emperors in the 1300-1600s, and again renovated within the past 60-70 years. It is astonishing that original parts of this wall are still standing considering the attacks it has faced by both man and nature in the form of earthquakes and wind. The Great Wall stands along a mountainous ridge that can be brutally cold in the winter and blazingly hot in the summer and at the mercy of all forces of nature.

Tonight is Chinese New Year at the start of Spring Festival and it appears most people stayed home from the Great Wall today. In my tour with only one other person - a girl from Ohio who's teaching English in South Korea and visiting Beijing for a few days - we encountered only a handful of visitors on the wall all morning. Incredible to have the wall and views to ourselves for several hours. Watch the steps though! They are steep and many, especially on the way back down.

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