5- The Great Wall at Badaling

Jola and I rode on July 11 to Badaling, 60 km/38 miles northwest of Beijing. Grace was our guide and Mr. Joh our driver.

Thought I could photograph the cable car we'd take up to the Great Wall, but almost missed the 20 seconds you get to hop in.

Grace had been an editor of Beijing Impressions. Mr. Joh, I told him, was the best driver in all of China. Grace translated. She said: He is shy.

The Great Wall at Badaling in the Jundu Mountains was built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and was restored in the 1950s and 1980s.

From our gondola aloft.

While the Great Wall at Badaling was built during the Ming Dynasty, some parts of the wall of 50,000 km/30,000 mi. through China date back to the 5th century B.C.

The Great Wall at Badaling, built around 1505, was a defense against nomadic Mongolian tribes from the north. Today, climbing the Great Wall here is not a solitary pursuit.

Folks would come up and ask to take a photo with them and we got the same snap in return! The sweethearts, God bless them!













Steps, but some steep. About 1,000 m above sea level. Mr. Joh, at left, would give me a hand. Grace now works with Bob's friend, Zhou Kanyan (Kevin).

Badaling is near the Yuyongguan Pass.

Photo by Jola Drake.













A military garrison was part of the fortifications at the Great Wall at Badaling.













After our hike, we drove back into Beijing for lunch. Mr. Joh, who could make a way out of no way in heavy traffic, ordered hot pot lunch for us. Said by some to come from the Mongolian region, by others from the boatmen on the Yangzi River, hot pot is a container of boiling water that comes right to your table.







Also to the table comes beautiful plates of fresh bok choy, chard, cabbage, cilantro or chickory, mung beans and other greens, mushrooms, sliced raw beef and mutton, prawns and bean curd. Mr. Joh favored the nutrition of bean curd fresh, frozen (cooks to spongy) and the golden skin. Drop the food in the simmering water, chop stick it out, dip in a peanut sauce, and eat. Side dish of cured garlic. What a broth was left!

The Great Wall at Badaling!