Walking the Wall

Brendan sniffing the sea air

You’d think that after more than 3500 kilometres, we’d have seen about everything there is to see on the wall. It’s certainly true that not everything is as fresh as it once was, and we’re very tired and ready to go home.

Still, the wall somehow manages to astound us on a daily basis, and not just because of how outrageously hard it is to walk along. There are several hundred kilometres of wall in eastern Hebei, between Beijing and Shanhaiguan, and in many ways the Hebei wall combines the best aspects of Beijing’s famous but heavily touristed sites and the less well-known parts of the wall in the west.

The wall traverses several geological zones on its march to the sea, or so it seems - geology’s not a real strong point with us. We do know pretty rocks though, and we’ve enjoyed watching the wall change colour and mood in concert with its geo-environment.

Like a patchwork quilt of colours

The Marble Great Wall, near Baiyangyu

The mist makes for slippery rocks, but it does heighten the colours

Much of the Hebei wall lies in ruins. Bricks and cut stone have been stripped from the foundations, arrowholes have been stolen by vandals, and in places, it’s difficult to tell whether stone walls are merely a foundation or the wall in its entirety. But sad as it is to see the wall deteriorate, you’ve gotta admit, some of the ruins are picturesque.

A stone door arch

This tower’s roof has collapsed, allowing sunlight in

Inexplicably, small sections remain even when everything around them has crumbled

Despite the ravages of time, we’ve also seen some unusual architectural features in Hebei that we’ve seen nowhere else in their original setting.

One of the few two-storey towers we’ve seen outside reconstructed sections

Every watchtower has either brick or stone doorway arches, but it’s unusual to see the two styles side by side

One of the few character carvings we have seen

The most important thing to know about eastern Hebei’s scenery is that it is almost completely mountainous - just when we’ve hauled ourselves up one mountain, another one looms up in front of us. The wall manages to stick to ridges most of the time, with long, incredible drop-offs on one or either side, but eventually, unfortunately for us hikers, it has to come down. Having said that, it is probably one of the most beautiful sections we have seen.

The wall hugging the cliff near Shanhaiguan

Classic Chinese pine trees on one side, farmers’ terraces on the other

Where the wall hits the cliff at Jiumenkou, Nine Gate Pass, 15 kilometres from Shanhaiguan