Climbing to the Wall

    To climb the stairs to the Wall or to ride the cable car? Easy decisionmy honor wouldn't let me use the cable car, so we walked. We shortly learned, however, that it was going to be more exercise than we (or at least I) had bargained for. At several points along the way, I invoked the time-honored technique of pausing to admire the scenery (which truly was beautiful, as you will see) while really catching my breath.

A small sample of the steps leading to the Great Wall. We climbed for about 30 minutes to reach the Wall.

One of the first views backwards as we ascended.

It's one thing to have a cable car to help people get to the wall. It's quite another to install a metallic toboggan slide. Maybe it's less obvious in summer...

The cable car landing at the Wall.

How's this for a view to the southwest? Note the milkish brown haze in the distance, which I call Asian haze because of its regional nature.

A view to the northwest. The toboggan slide can be seen snaking around on its downward path.

A view to the north-northeast. The brownish haze can still be seen near the horizon.

Back to The Jumping-off Point
Ahead to To the Summit

Back to the Great Wall