Walking the Wall

When we turned away from the Yellow River a few weeks ago and headed northeast along the Shanxi-Inner Mongolia border, we felt like we had passed an important milestone in our journey. We’d completed roughly two-thirds of the hike. We were moving from the western provinces of Gansu, Ningxia and Shaanxi to the eastern provinces of Shanxi, Beijing and Hebei. And we were leaving behind the desert and climbing into the mountains.

The wall ascending a ridge above the village of Baiyangkou, Shanxi province

The eastern turn from the Yellow River also marked an important transition for the builders of the Great Wall. Though the wall is generally thought of as a defensive structure, in the west it had offensive functions as well. In Gansu the wall served as a frontier outpost in a region that was and remains heavily Central Asian in character. In Shaanxi’s Ordos region the wall was an attempt at defining a permanent border in a highly contested area with a long history of shifting frontiers. But from the Yellow River eastward, the wall’s primary reason for being was defensive: to protect the Ming capital of Beijing.

A boy watches us from a fort in the village of Madaoju, not far from the Yellow River

Left unprotected, this pass would allow easy entry to Zhangjiakou, just over 200 kilometres from Beijing

The character of the wall along the Shanxi-Inner Mongolia border seemed to us to reflect this change in purpose. In the west, the wall was generally built of erodible materials – rammed earth or adobe – and like the borders it defined or reinforced, it seemed impermanent. The wall we’ve traveled along for the past few weeks is made of brick and stone, and it was built to last.

Around 500 years after it was built, this tower shows almost no signs of wear and tear

We had seen the occasional stone and brick beacon tower when we were in Shaanxi (two a’s), but in Shanxi (one a) stone and brick towers became the norm. Nearly all of these towers were imposing brick structures with massive stone foundations; many were beautiful as well, with keyhole windows, nameplates and elaborate carvings.

We have no way of measuring, but we’d guess this tower is no less than 15 metres high, probably more

The distinctive keyhole windows visible on this tower allowed archers to get off shots unimpeded while remaining protected

Many of the towers we see have spots for nameplates, but nearly all of them have been removed

Since we’ve crossed the border from Shanxi into Hebei, the province that surrounds Beijing (and our last province), the wall has come to resemble even more the traditional image of the Great Wall. Virtually all of the wall we walk along these days is made of stone, and often it snakes along high, windy ridgetops for miles on end.

Many sections of stone wall, like this one, have no mortar

A classic ridgetop view

The views from the top are great of course, but the pretty scenery comes at a cost - and unfortunately, the only forms of payment accepted are burning thighs and aching joints.

Emma speeding uphill

On the narrower ridges, the footing can get rough and rocky

Just when we thought spring was here to stay, we climbed right back into winter - fresh snow the morning of April 16