The Jinshanling area of the Great Wall of China is not as visited as Mutianyu or Badaling – it being a 3 and a half hour trip to get there from Beijing. What makes up for the journey is that, when you arrive, you’ve practically got the place to yourself. It’s the best part of the Wall you can visit. It’s the best preserved. The wall, fortresses and passes were all constructed in the North Qi Dynasty (550-577) and the ruins of this period are still visible. The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) rebuilt, repaired and reconstructed the wall over the years – indeed, the 7 metre high, 5-6 metre wide wall at Jinshanling is the best place to see the magnificent Ming Dynasty architecture of the Wall.

The Great Wall of China. It was desolate here when we visited. Barren, vast, empty space all around, then the Wall, like a grey and sand coloured spine, it’s undulating ridges twisting and snaking through the landscape, a wonder in every sense of the word. The deep blue sky above was just as endless, just as lonely it seemed as the emptiness stretching out under our feet and all around. This part of the wall stretches from Wangjinglou Tower in the east all the way to Longujou in the west, about 10 kilometres in all, and popular with hikers. 

 Of course, we wouldn’t be able to walk the whole thing today – but we could at least get to a few of the iconic watchtowers, including the two-tier Jinshan Watchtower, the General Tower and the Taochun Tower. There are other towers of course. More than 100 actually. As we set food on the wall we started to be followed by a group of ruddy-faced farmers who were after selling things. To gain your trust, they follow you for the whole journey, helping you over difficult parts, taking photos, teaching you Chinese. Their smiles shone out of their leathery, weather-beaten faces, and they wore old tattered clothes – outdoors people, hardened to the hardships life here brings.  We  bought a book of the Great Wall for 80RMB at the end of the walk.  Persistence pays off!

The Great Wall was much more impressive than we’d imagined. It wasn’t just the Wall itself, which was charmingly authentic, i.e. in ruin in places, it was also the surrounding scenery – brown mountains and naked trees giving that feeling of beautiful, scary isolation.  The patches of forest green stood in welcome contrast to the surroundings.  We were at the bottom of a deep sea it seemed, and above us an ocean of perfect blue. Here, our group of 20 people were alone. No other tourists were in sight. It was overwhelming being here, hiking the wall, navigating the steep and rocky paths.  The Great Wall has been the most impressive of all the wonders of the world we have visited.