The day started overcast in Beijing as we drove 1.5 hours to the Jinshanling Great Wall Site. The weather didn’t improve during our stay. This site has more mountain views than the Badaling site, which we climbed in 2008. Full disclosure, Chris hiked to the third watch tower – Pete did not.

The Great Wall of China has a history of more than 2,300 years. The history of the Great Wall of China began in the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BC) and was last rebuilt as a defense during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644).

The Great Wall at Jinshanling was built 650 years ago during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), initially constructed from 1368 to 1389, and in 1567 and 1570, the rebuilding of the Wall was mainly directed by General Qi Jiguang (1528–1588).

In the Qin Dynasty, the First Emperor of Qin built the northern walls to prevent invasion from northern nations. In the Han Dynasty, the emperors extended the Great Wall far into today’s western China to protect the Silk Road trade.

Jinshanling Great Wall

In Beijing, Hutongs are alleys formed by lines of siheyuan, traditional courtyard residences. Many neighbourhoods were formed by joining one siheyuan to another to form a hutong, and then joining one hutong to another. The word hutong is also used to refer to such neighbourhoods.

Since the mid-20th century, many Beijing hutongs have been demolished to make way for new roads and buildings. More recently, however, many hutongs have been designated as protected, in an attempt to preserve this aspect of Chinese cultural history. Hutongs were first established during the Yuan dynasty (1279–1368) and later expanded during the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties. They can be explored by foot or rickshaw; we did both. We also walked around 10 Temples Lake (only one temple left today). In addition, we visited two towers, the Beijing Bell and Drum Towers, which are well over 700 years old. Both structures trace their origins to 1272 during the Yuan Dynasty, when they were built as the ancient city’s central timekeeping hubs. Bells to wake and drums to mark the end of the day. To finish our day, we had dinner with a family who lives in a Hutong complex.