The Great Wall and Farewell to Beijing

Monday was our last day in Beijing and the chosen date for our excursion to the Great Wall.  I had chosen the less visited site of Mutianyu, a bit further than the more commonly visited site of Badaling.   This is the longest restored section of the wall which is open to visitors and much less crowded than Badaling.  Xing had not been there before but was able to locate it.  The drive took about two hours and much of it was through pretty countryside with trout farms, wet lands, small lakes, forests and green hills.  We stopped for lunch near the Great Wall at a place that specialized in fresh caught trout from their own small pools.  We had this fish both grilled and fried, and also lamb and vegetables and a flour pancake, rather like a flat bread.  It was all very tasty (except the dish of fish heads and tails ,which we did not try).  Xing had found this restaurant using the internet and it was a good choice.  We ate outside on a covered terrace with ceiling fans. 

Road trip to the Great Wall

The very good outside restaurant specializing in fresh fish (but with many other dishes on offer)

Lunch - actually the yellow ones are not eaten but the dark ones are - we think they are a trout version

A huge father and mother catfish with a baby patrolled and cleaned the bottom of the pond

Again, Xing and Tianqi pick our lunch menu

A restaurant employee uses a net to snare unsuspecting fish where they are quickly transformed into lunch

The authentic version of egg fu young

Along with fish (the fried fish was so delicious) there were lamb bones which Randy and Nick tore through

We parked at the Great Wall location and walked to the shuttle bus which took us to the cable car entrance.  It was not crowded and we took the short but very scenic and pleasant cable car ride to the top which was next to the wall.  This place had two cable cars with a stretch of the wall restored between them and just beyond them.  We choose to walk from our cable car location to the end of the restored section which passed through an unusual block house.  The going was challenging with many, many steps, some very steep and difficult.  Randy stopped about half way and waited for us but the rest of us persevered to the end.  Great views and a sense of accomplishment rewarded us.  

At the parking and arrival area of Mutianyu

Another imperfect English translation

An overview of this area of the wall

We road this cable car to the top

We flew over a garden which looked pretty successful

Tianqi and Nick were in the car behind us

Going up the hillside - thank goodness we did not have to walk!

 

Tianqi and Nick admire the view at the top of the cable car

A panoramic of the view

The main attraction - the wall itself

The stairs ranged from fairly easy to those that you needed to get on all fours to get up safely

The wall at this point is surrounded by vegetation

A selfie - I was wearing my travel purse as a backpack for the Great Wall expedition

Randy says Hi from below at the unusual blockhouse

On top of the blockhouse looking towards where we will climb (we made it to the end which is on top of the hill and just visible)

Stair detail

Xing and Randy are happy to enjoy the wall together

The exterior of the wall (seen from the toilet area just outside the wall).  The wall is mainly constructed of granite here with some bricks.

Tianqi and Nick head up - they set a fast pace.  Tianqi with her ever present sun umbrella.  Xing and I followed more slowly while Randy opted to wait for us.

View from a guard window

View back to the two story blockhouse

A pretty butterfly kept us company briefly

An unrestored part of the wall branched out from the section we were experiencing

Tianqi and Nick played cards (of course) at the top and waited for Xing and I to arrive

View from a top window

Nick and I were happy to be there after a strenuous climb

Tired but elated to make it to the end of where we could go on the wall

Another view of an unrestored section - you can see that it is still in good shape

A selfie on the way back

Nick and Tianqi head back

Randy was waiting for us

A canon along the wall (facing north of course to keep out the potential Mongol invaders)

We walked back, which was more downhill than uphill.  Randy and Xing opted to take the cable car back down while Nick, Tianqi and I choose the toboggan, which Michelle Obama and her daughters had taken earlier that spring.  This was very fun and a novel way to get back down the hill.  We then walked back through shopping areas and bargained hard for some purchases of T shirts, a table cloth, and painted glass bottles.  

A map of the Mutianyu wall area - we went up the cable car to the right and walked to the far right end

Michelle Obama and her daughters were at the same place in April and they also road the toboggan down (see central photo on this sign)

The toboggan run which Nick, Tianqi and I took down the mountainside was fun though I went pretty slow

The ride back to the hotel took longer due to a brief period of being lost and entering Beijing at rush hour.  But, we made it to the Marriott and freshened up.  We then drove to the place of our final dinner in Beijing and Randy’s birthday celebration, the Capital M, the other M restaurant (you might recall we ate the M on the Bund for lunch in Shanghai).  We had a difficult parking situation and ended up in a hutong near the restaurant.  We walked to the place, which is located on the third floor of a historic building and literally overlooks Tienanmen Square with its lit antique buildings (the guard houses of the now disappeared wall surrounding Beijing).  We ate on the terrace which was pleasant enough on this evening and enjoyed the view.  We had expensive but well prepared international cuisine (including a starter of manti, the Turkish dumplings).  The finale was a birthday version of their signature desert, a pavlova which is a meringue topped with whipped cream and fruit.  Xing took us back to the Marriott where we bade him a gratitude filled good bye.

Tienanmen Square at night - the old buildings are two gates left from when this area was a walled city

I don't know what this building is but it looked fabulous lit up at night

The view from the Capital M restaurant terrace where we ate was magical at night

The birthday boy and Xing

The whole group - sadly, Xing's wife got a little sunstroke that day and could not join us

Another view of the two lit gate houses

My vegetarian starter platter

Others opted for a starter of manti - these manti were much larger and more meaty than the Turkish ones

Randy and Nick chose the pork

Tianqi chose the fish

I chose the rabbit pasta

Xing chose the beef (or was it lamb?)

A fantastic birthday desert - the restaurant's signature pavlova decorated with fruit and a candle

We finished all of this cream and meringue delight

Our flight to Hong Kong was early on Tuesday (8:30 AM) so we had a 5:30 AM van arranged for the drive to the airport.  Nick and Tianqi were to leave at 10:30 AM on their flight to Nanjing.  We all agreed that Beijing was interesting and we experienced the top sights and were especially fortunate to have a gracious local, Xing, to host us for five days.  Even so, we were all glad to be moving on to the next steps of our respective journeys.  And, as it happened, it appeared that Tuesday was bringing more hazy weather and signaled the end of the blue skies and low pollution we enjoyed during our stay.

Saying goodbye at the Beijing airport before our morning flights - Nick and Tianqi headed back to Nanjing while Randy and I flew to Hong Kong

A final photo to close out the blog on Beijing