The Wandering Bear

Mutianyu

Mutianyu is the longest Great Wall section open to tourist. There are cable cars and gondolas which brings you up to the wall. When coming down, there is an option to take a luge down which I would highly recommend. This section of the wall is about 2.5km long and I walked the wall for about an hour before turning back. It wasn't really challenging even though it looked daunting. There are watchtowers every 100m or so where you can take a breather when you are tired. The scenery is beautiful with trees covering the surrounding area. On the western end near the highest watchtowers, there is a phrase printed on the grassy slope which says,"忠于毛主席" which means "loyalty to Chairman Mao". I guess it is there because Chairman Mao once said that "If you dont get to the Great Wall, you are not a great man" (不到长城非好汉) Thus climbing the Great Wall is a means of showing loyalty to Chairman Mao.

Huanghuacheng

After that exhilarating luge ride down, our next stop was Huanghuacheng. Oh yeah we rented a car with driver for the whole day to bring us around. This place is very hard to get without a car as it is very far from the city. Huanghuacheng is the only Great Wall section that is beside a lake. This section is more like a nature reserve where there is a boardwalk alongside the lake and we are only allowed to access to certain sections of the wall. Notwithstanding that, the area gives you a different perspective of the wall and the scenery is breathtaking. It would take you about 2 hours to complete the trail around the lake. 

Only certain sections of the Great Wall are open to public as some are very run down and not maintained which might be dangerous to climb.

After a day of trekking, I visited two beautiful places in China. I would prefer Huanghuacheng as it offers a rare sight of the Great Wall (and it is a pain in the butt to go there). Another interesting section of the Great Wall would be the Laolongtou Great Wall about 305km from Beijing where the Great Wall meets the sea.  I will probably want to visit there the next time I visit Beijing.

The next post will bring us high up to one of the most sacred mountains in China (yes more trekking...). Till then, see ya!

大家好! In November I head back to the Far East to the metropolis in northern China.. Beijing (北京). This city is also the capital of the People's Republic of China. In this trip I will travel in search of beautiful scenic landscapes as as well as the places of historical and cultural interest. Last of all, I have a side quest of searching for the real authentic Peking Roasted Duck. 

When I landed in Beijing Capital Airport, what surprised me was that the air quality was better compared to what I experienced a year ago. Not very sure what was happening but  awesome work China! I figured that I should start off exploring central Beijing before venturing outwards. The first place that I visited was the historical Tiananmen Square and the legendary Forbidden City. Tiananmen was probably well known for the "Tank Man" during the protests in 1989. What struck me was how vast the square was. 

From the square I made my way through the crowd into the Forbidden City. This is also the largest palace in the world and home to 24 emperors for almost 500 years from the Ming Dynasty to the end of Qing Dynasty, Today, this site is more commonly known as 故宫 (gu gong) meaning former palace. 

Panda Research Base

Pandas!!! 

When you come to Chengdu, this is one of the places that you definitely must go. Besides having natural habitats that are created for the giant pandas to live in, The research base also have other facilities such as fodder room, panda sleeping quarters and medical station. These pandas are housed in a simulated environment where these Pandas are bred to prepare for their release into the wild. Clumps of bamboos and bushes were grown all over the compound for their diet. 

This place is packed with people so it is very hard to take a good photograph of these adorable little creatures. 

The entrance to 海口火山口公园.

The volcano park is home to more than 40 volcanoes and 30 volcanic cave. I chose to trek up the highest volcano peak. It was not a strenuous climb as it was only about an hour's climb. There were many geological features to explore along the way. The view from the peak allows me to see the Hainan countryside. Due the dense forest surrounding the area and being far away from the city, the park is very cool and there is an abundance of fresh air. A very refreshing place to visit in the summer,   

View from the peak of the volcano. 222.8m above sea level. 

Chengdu

I reached Chengdu courtesy of Hainan Airlines in the afternoon after a good night's sleep in sunny Hainan. The nearest tourist attraction from my hotel is Du Fu's Thatched Cottage, 杜甫草堂. It is a park and museum in honour of the late Tang dynasty poet Du Fu, where many Du Fu enthusiasts will flock here to pay tribute to the famous poet.  In 759 Du Fu moved to Chengdu and built himself a thatched hut and lived here for 4 years. During his stay, he composed over two hundred and forty poems. I learnt that the original hut was destroyed and the park was constructed in the 16th century during the Ming Dynasty and renovated extensively during the Qing Dynasty. 

View from the edge of a cliff at 雷洞坪

I started the ascend at around 5am. People who wanted to catch the sunrise at the peak should be at the cable car station at around 430am to take a ride up. But I decided to do it the hard way and slowly climbed the mountain, enjoying the scenery and fresh air along the way. After 2-3 hours of never ending stairs, I finally reached the top. 

Another way to capture this picturesque view besides from the small window of your plane. I really wanted to jump and bounce around the clouds hehe.