!!!Great Wall of China. Jiankou and Jiaoshan
Photos and text by Sergey Shandin and Stanislav Sedov,
members of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

25 May 2018

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

The Great Wall of China truly deserves its name. Literally the name is
translated as "the 10,000-Li Long Wall". "Li" is an ancient Chinese unit
of distance measured by feet. But for the modern people it is easier to
imagine it in more familiar units of measure. In this way, the length of
the wall stretching east to west is 9,000 km, but when counting with all
the branches its total length is more than 21,000 km — long enough to
encircle half of the globe!

[{Image src='01_Great Wall of China.jpg' caption='Great Wall of China\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='601'}]

The wall begins in Shanhaiguan district. This part of the wall is called
"the Dragon's head" and rises right out of the water, not allowing to
bypass it. Then the wall goes through the north to the west, climbing
the spurs and descending to the abysses, and ends in Gansu Province.

[{Image src='02_Great Wall of China - The Dragon's Head.jpg' caption='Great Wall of China. "The Dragon’s Head"\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false'}]

The width of this construction is 5-8 meters; some sections of the wall
suitable for several horse riders running side by side. Now you will not
meet the riders, but instead of them there are crowds of tourists on the
wall. That's it, the Great Wall of China is one of the most known
monuments of the world.

[{Image src='03_Nothern part of the Jiankou Wall.jpg' caption='Nothern part of the Jiankou Wall\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='356'}]

But still, there are some hardly accessible corners of the wall, not
attended by tourists. That's where we went — the place called "Beijing
knot", a branch point located in the mountains about 60 km north of
Beijing.

This part of the wall is truly wild and inaccessible. Some flat sections
often gives way to steep ascents. The wall repeats every curve of the
rocky landscape constantly rising up and falling abruptly. The area is
pretty dangerous, and accidents often occur. Narrow steps sometimes turn
into almost vertical barrier with the angle of 80 degrees. The names
"Stairway to Heaven", "Eagle's flight", "Cut on the arrow" turn out to
be not just poetical figures of speech, but an honest description of the
landscape.


[{Image src='04_Steep climb of Sky Stair.jpg' caption='Steep climb of Sky Stair\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='592'}]

We stayed in a small mountain lounge with a poor breakfast in the
morning, and started our way to the mountains in the small hours. The
lane leads us through the forest with the dry leaves rustling under our
feet. An hour and a half we saw the towers and the ridge. Quite soon,
here it is — the Great Wall!

Between the ancient stones there are trees and bushes. This section of
the wall is not recommended for tourists for visiting, many signs tell
us about it. But it is the wild beauty that attracts us. We climbed the
wall and created several panoramas. The sun appeared just behind the
mountains. Being illuminated by the sun, the wall resembles an ancient
dragon, crawling on the mountain. It is getting warmer.

[{Image src='05_Great Wall of China. Tower at the top of the Sky Stair.jpg' caption='Great Wall of China. Tower at the top of the Sky Stair\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='356'}]

Our way goes to the tower "Beijing knot". The first impression that it
is easy to get there is illusive. Having overcome  prickly bushes, we
appeared before the foundation of the wall that becomes the "stairs"
when it goes along the ridge. At first climbing is easy, but the height
of the steps is gradually getting higher and we have to bypass the
rockslides. The equipment that we took with us turns even the easiest
trekking into a good physical exercise. Finally, we got up there! The
scene is breathtaking, from the "knot" the wall branches off in several
ways; the birds fly near us yelling something approving to us.

[{Image src='06_Great Wall of China.jpg' caption='Great Wall of China\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='601'}]

A small break with a snack, a chocolate and strange sausages — but in
the mountains we cannot be choosy. Stas launches a drone and starts
capturing from above. Now we decide, what we shall do next. We wanted to
capture some more towers located further from here. To do that, we have
to return to the valley and follow another lane, or go all the way
through the wall, which is more challenging. On the map  we can see
numerous signs: "dangerous pass", "no pass", "better go around". Which
way to choose?

[{Image src='07_Above the temples at the Jiaoshan Wall.jpg' caption='Above the temples at the Jiaoshan Wall\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='565'}]

The bigger part of the adventures begins with the words "I know a
shorter way". Having decided to follow the way through the wall, we did
not expected that we would need to crawl: first up, then down. Have I
mentioned the angle of 80 degrees? And now imagine the steps 50-80 cm
high and with the width of your hand.

[{Image src='08_Great Wall of China.jpg' caption='Great Wall of China\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='601'}]

In the middle of our ascent we almost lost our enthusiasm. But there was
no way to return. A breathtaking view that can be observed from the
fortress "The eagle facing upwards" gave us a little more strength. The
wall here is more restored, with fewer rockslides and downfalls. There
is one more famous place waiting for us — "Staircase to heaven". Extreme
lovers come here from the side of Jiankou. So we had to descend. But
going down in the mountains is often more difficult, especially when you
follow the unknown route.

[{Image src='09_Great Wall of China. Jiankou Spot.jpg' caption='Great Wall of China. Jiankou Spot\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='354'}]

Meanwhile, the sun was getting closer to horizon. To overcome the way
that we went through in a daytime seemed hardly probable. The only way
was to go ahead. So here it is "Staircase to heaven". Imagine that you
stand on the roof of a tall building and you have to go down using
narrow steps. Yes, that way down. Mountaineering equipment? No, haven't
heard about that.

[{Image src='10_Great Wall of China.jpg' caption='Great Wall of China\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='601'}]

We start descending. Slowly I stretch my leg downwards trying to feel
the narrow step. It must be there, I just can't see it. Then the second
leg. Damn, the backpack got stuck. Once again. Now better. The next
move...

It took us almost an hour to descend. It went dark, but the way through
the night forest was good enough comparing to the descend through the
small ancient stone steps.

It is amazing that the wall has remained intact even in the places where
there was no restoration works. Legends say that the secret is the rice
porridge added to the limestone mortar to fix the stones. I also
wondered that the upper surface of the wall is paved. Somewhere the
trees grew through the pavement, but still the condition is good.

[{Image src='11_Great Wall of China.jpg' caption='Great Wall of China\\© [AirPano|https://www.AirPano.com]' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='601'}]

The following day we went to the wall, but this time to visit Jiankou
tower. Stas was eager to repeat our heroic deed, but I suggested
bypassing the most extreme part of the wall through the forest. That's
how we did.

The wall with its wild beauty and grown trees is much more interesting
than its "refined" parts. Unfortunately, this part of the wall will be
restored soon, too. But our photos and videos will preserve it as it is
today.

[21 panoramas of Great Wall of China. Jiankou and Jiaoshan|Geography/Asia/China/Pictures/Panoramas_of_Great_Wall_of_China_Jiankou_and_Jiaoshan]

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