The Great Wall @ Mutianyu

Dad, Stacie, and Zachary came to town for a five day whirlwind tour of Beijing and Xi’an. Our first stop was the Great Wall of China. We took the cable car up and the toboggan down (probably the best part of the entire trip).

According to Wikipedia: “Mutianyu is a section of the Great Wall of China located in Huairou County 70km northeast of Beijing. The Mutianyu section of the Great Wall is connected with Jiankou in the west and Lianhuachi in the east. As one of the best-preserved parts of the Great Wall, the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall used to serve as the northern barrier defending the capital and the imperial tombs.

First built in the mid-6th century during the Northern Qi, Mutianyu Great Wall is older than the Badaling section of the Great Wall. In the Ming dynasty, under the supervision of General Xu Da, construction of the present wall began on the foundation of the wall of Northern Qi. In 1404, a pass was built in the wall. In 1569, the Mutianyu Great Wall was rebuilt and till today most parts of it are well preserved. The Mutianyu Great Wall has the largest construction scale and best quality among all sections of Great Wall.”

Needless to say it has been through numerous upgrades and remolding over the last 1300 years.