Mutianyu Great Wall 慕田峪长城

The Great Wall of China is made up of stone, brick, wood, and (from what the tour guide said) people who have died working on the Wall. The Wall was built in the 200 BC by the first Emperor ever and reconstructed later during the Ming Dynasty. It was built alone the east to west line across the norther border of China to protect the Chinese Empire from the nomadic tribes. There are different parts of the Great Wall but the most popular (and crowded) one is the Badaling section. However, the Mutianyu section has been said that it has the best view (but just a bit further from Beijing than Badaling) because it's at the very "end" of the Great Wall. As soon as we passed through the extremely steep parts, the views are spectacular. 

Once we arrived, I wasn't sure what to expect because I don't remember much from the last time I've been on the Great Wall. But my first question was: How are we going to get up there?! Since it IS a wall. O.O There are two options going up-- the obvious one: Walk. Or a cable car! 

I'm not really sure how much to enter the Great Wall is since it is included in the tour price. 

Once we entered the area by the ticket offices, we had to make our way through many souvenir vendors trying to sell us Great Wall/Beijing shirts for RMB$1! It was tempting.. but it'll probably shrink as I get back down from the Great Wall. It was really pretty though. A very different side of Beijing.

The map above shows the route* map of the Mutianyu section. There's two ways up like I mentioned earlier, but three ways down which includes walking (again), cable car, or toboggan! 

Such a pretty view.

Everyone bought round trip tickets to and from the Wall. Coming down, we have the option of taking the cable car again or the toboggan. The cable car.. was the scariest thing ever. It creeks and you have to dangle your feet. As someone who is afraid of heights. Amar has a video of me where I was just sitting really still and not moving at all. It was absolutely terrifying. Such a pretty view though. You can tell straight off the bat that this part of the Wall is more rugged with minimal tourists with a great deal of plants and trees all over! Apparently over 96% of Mutianyu is covered by tress and orchards, keeping the air fragrant with chestnut blossoms in the spring and fresh all year long. 

You can see the Great Wall peeking!

Oh China..

Once we got to the top and finally away from my death trap, 

The view was absolutely stunning. This was definitely the highlight of my trip. The Wall at Mutianyu stretches over 2 kilometers long which is 1.24 miles. Since the Great Wall was built because of military reasons, this particular part has 22 watchtowers every 100 meters, which is nice especially during the summer so people can rest in the towers/shade. 

This dude in the camouflaged overalls? is so smart! I guess he carried all these snacks and drinks with him, got up the Wall, put up his shop, and started selling his snacks! He even had coffee in his little mug. When we were on our way back, we had to hike past a steep part and he was rooting us on lol!

 Mutianyu is definitely a section I'd visit again as the view is absolutely breathtaking!

The stairs were so steep. I had to use my hands to get up the steps.

Gives us girls a bad rep! JB's just a little baby.  A baby who made $100 million last year...

This was taken at the very end of the Wall before the last wall tower. 

Once we made our way back down, everybody-- especially Amar was so excited to toboggan down. I had my reservations in the beginning but I would never voluntarily stare death in the face by taking the cable car again.

Here is our lovely Jamaican friend assuring us (his friend, who loved the cable car and thought the toboggan was a death trap) that there was nothing to worry about. Except that we are in China. And if we do go off the rails, no one will find us.  

Just kidding, there were guards or government workers at every turn-- some on their phones and some were napping. But they were there! 

 Of course this one had to go first. I was second, and the rest of the group was behind me. Which was a bad idea because I was being extra cautious! I videotapped the whole thing. Every time I watch it, it cracks me up. You can hear the guys behind me go "HURRY UP. GO FASTER!!!" And of course, once Amar slid down the first curve, he was gone. He went super fast that I didn't see him until I got to the bottom when he was waiting for the two slowpokes in front of him. The guy on the left was yelling for him to slow down. 

It was freezing by the time we got down, but it was fun! I would much prefer freezing and risking to fall off the rails than dropping hundreds of feet down into the unknown forest of Mutianyu. ^___^