Today was Great Wall day. Because when you are in Beijing, you of course have to go there. Thirteen years ago we had already brought a visit but then to the Badaling area, that part of the wall you always see on pictures and where most of the tourists go to. So we thought it more interesting to visit two other parts, Simatái and Jinshanling, lying not too far from each other. It was a drive of about 120 km bur it was worth it.
But first we had to leave Beijing of course. Thirteen years ago it was a real eye opener to watch the traffic jam of 4 km with almost all new cars into the direction of the centre. So it was not really remarkable to see this jam again this morning, it was only much longer now. The real surprise was the traffic jam out of town. But this is just a remark aside.

I can now understand why most of the tourist buses are going to Badaling. This is much more accessible by foot, for the two other destinations you have to climb a lot. It’s possible to restrict this with the aid of a kind of chair-lift and a mini-train, but nevertheless climbing is necessary. Simatái was beautiful, Jinshanling impressive! It may be that the wall no too long ago has been restored and may be it’s probably not always done in a historically justified way, it remains a unique experience to walk on this Great Wall. At Jinshanling it was lovely quiet, just a few tourists around sometimes. This gave a very special feeling, just being alone on this magnificent treasure from times long gone in all peace and silence. Wonderful! I hope the pictures represent some of this feeling.