During my latest travel to China, one of our biggest stops was the Great Wall. Built during the Ming Dynasty to safeguard the Chinese from invading barbarians, it’s a behemoth that stretches over thousands of miles, over mountains and across deserts. In the modern world of today, it’s a relic of the past, yet its beauty and grandeur and scale are undeniable.

We chose to ascent the wall at the Mutianyu section near Beijing. Mutianyu is a major tourist spot when in season. Even off season in the winter there were quite a few tourists walking around up top. Once we got to the top of the wall, we started heading north east, towards the Jiankou section of the wall. On a previous hike we did the Jiankou to Mutianyu hike but the ascent from Jiankou is fairly rigorous and I was sick this time. So I elected to do a easier hike with the Gondola helping us up halfway. Mutianyu is fully restored for the tourists, and much of the bricks used is new. After a while we came to the end of the restored section with a sign that said danger ahead, and passing prohibited. There was no guard there so we chose to ignore the sign and kept on going.

From the beginning of Mutianyu to the end of where we were headed is still a climb, but a much more gentler one on a paved surface. Once we got to the unrestored section of the wall, most of the other tourists have dropped off. Soon we were on the wall by ourselves. The wind was pretty strong that day, the temperature started around freezing and slowly dropped off as we got higher. On the unrestored section of the wall one can truely feel the age of the ancient structure. Looking at its dilapidation and ruin, you really feel that you are walking on a part of an ancient history. The overall hike took us about 5 hours to complete, with stops in the middle to hide from the wind and to take photographs. Inbetween Mutianyu and Jiankou lies a section called the oxhorn, its a steep section that goes up and then down in equally steep fashion, on the way back we elected to take a shortcut to circumvent this area and hiked through the woods instead. We got to Zhengbeilou on the Jiankou section and chose to stay there, without venturing too much into the dangerous area of the Jiankou wall. We sat there for a while admiring the view and turned around and headed back to Mutianyu. This is  the second time I’ve been to this section of the wall. Next time I will try the Jinshangling to Simatai section instead.

I spent most of my October in the motherland visiting my relatives, and as many who return to the place of their birth, I explored and tried to reconnect with my roots. China is barely recognizable as the place I left when I was 9 years old, and every time I return, it changes even more. In a country that’s steeped in the values of tradition, everything is shifting with the flow of money. Everywhere I go, there is new construction. A new highway that wraps around town, a new tourist resort to lure travelers from far away, a new subway line to connect to a out of way part of town, a new shopping mall, a new apartment complex. Dust is everywhere, its ubiquitous. It hangs in the air and settles on everything, and mixes with the fog and wind and sometimes blocks the sun. Taxis and cars line the streets, some are broken down and chugging along while some are shiny and new. Ferraris, Bentleys, endless Audis, Volkswagens and Range Rovers, non are idling or cruising, everyone has a destination to go to. Its an ordered chaos, or I should say in the chaos there is order.

I love China, after all it’s my origin. To everyone I’ve met along the way there, to the girl from Yanbian who misses delicious organic eggs from across the border, to the bartender named Alfred who loves what he does and hopes to become a manager one day, to the student from Jiang Su studying for her masters trying to make it in finance, to the old taxi driver who’s been driving the streets of Beijing for 27 years and witnessed all that’s changed, I wish you all luck, and hopefully, see you all again, very soon.

My journey started out in the city of Hohhot, where my mother was born.

A Hui mosque, in a Muslim area in Hohhot.

young couples set off lanterns in a large plaza

during my stay in Inner Mongolia we took a trip out to the steppes

Mongols practice Tibetan Buddhism

constructing a road and tourist resort someone on the steppes

An Ovoo, used for navigation and prayer dot the steppes, usually found on tops of hills

Breakfast with Mongolian milk tea, the yellow is butter, the tea is creamy and salty. The white chunks on the side is “milk-tofu” some sort of cheese. White cream in the middle is refined from the fat found in the skin of cooling milk.

Next my trip took me to Changchun, a busy industrial city in the middle of Jilin province.

much of Changchun is changing into the likes of a major city, but in the back alleys and older parts you can still walk around and find locals going about their daily lives.

a local market

Changchun is located next to the beautiful song river.

Finally I arrived in Beijing.

this is my child hood neighbourhood, where I lived most of my early days.

The backdoor to the kindergarden that used to be across the street.

the house of my childhood best friend, Xiao Yie, I’ve lost contact a long time ago.

798 used to be a military factory, in the same yard as the research institute that my parents worked, I’ve spent much of my time here as a kid. It has since then been decommissioned and re appropriated as a art district.

Tienanmen square.

Tienanmen, the entrance to the forbidden palace.

The north west corner of the palace.

The Temple of Heaven, constructed with out the use of any nails or metal

tourists from all over China as well as the world come and visit the sights in Beijing. Some tourists taking a break on the steps to the circular altar.

the Temple of Heaven is surrounded by literally a sea of trees, when one is standing on top of the altar, the tree tops appear endless in every direction.

park entrance is free for elders, so many spend their time in the park enjoying the greenery and play chess and cards.

my first 3 days in a Hutong hotel.

Hutongs (alleys) are a part of old Beijing and a diminishing sight. A very small portion of hutongs have been preserved and some of the more famous ones have been converted for commercial use into stores and hotels and trendy bars.

Smog on a bad day

constant traffic and activity, Beijing is a busy city.

more photos to come!