Great Wall of China

A visit to Beijing is not complete of course without a visit to the Great Wall of China. I chose a stretch of it that was a bit far from the city (3 hours by bus) to avoid the crowd. This worked out, and since we ignored the cable car and hiked up the hill we had an advantage over the rest of the group; for the next 3 hours we hiked the wall and had it almost to ourselves.

First views on the wall.
Amazing how it goes on and on over the hills and dissappears into the distance.

This part of the Wall is still authentic, last restored some 40 years ago (and therefore crumbling left and right).
Some parts of the wall where really steep (up to 80 degrees up with high steps)
Until here and no further. From this point on the next stretch of the Wall is under reconstruction for the next two years.