We took a city bus to the Ba Da Ling section of the Great Wall. Deanna rode the cable car almost to the top, but Lee and the student that traveled with us walked up the wall. As they began their climb, they could see their destination in the distance. It is the tiny tower on the mountain peak in the center of the picture.

Here is Lee as high as he could go at Ba Da Ling. The Great Wall follows the tops of mountain ridges, so to climb the Great Wall, you go up stairs to the top of the wall, then essentially climb the mountain on the top of the wall. This tower is on a mountain peak, and when you continue past it, you are going back down into the valley.

The purpose of the Great Wall was to protect China from invaders from the north. Troops lived in watchtowers that were spaced closely enough along the wall that it would be difficult for an enemy to approach undetected. There were also towers where signal fires could be lit in the event of an attack. Deanna was watching for the foe, but that day, the coast was clear.

We took this picture after we had started walking back down. We are looking back at the tower where the previous two pictures were taken. The wall does not follow a single line through the mountains but often forks and branches off. Behind this tower, we could see an unrestored section of the wall going down the other side of the mountain.

This view gives you an idea of the steepness of some sections of the wall. The soldiers who patrolled here must have been a hardy lot. We were glad we came to this staircase on the way down, not on the way up. The Great Wall really is like a dragon winding along the northern border of China.

The Great Wall was an ongoing project, constantly being added to and repaired to meet the current need. Even today, the wall is in varying states of repair. Some sections have stood the test of time better than others, and of course, some have been restored in modern times. Even the watchtowers along the wall are different. This two-story tower was one of the biggest ones we saw. The square flat area at the bottom of the ramp in front of the tower may have been a place to light signal fires.

Copyright 2005, Dr. Lee Williams

Last Modified: 15 February 2005

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