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When it comes to the Great Wall, it's universally known.
It's said to be a man-made wonder that can be seen from the moon.
The Mutianyu Great Wall dates back to the Northern Qi Dynasty, making it over a thousand years old.
With its beacon fires and warlike smoke, it became the nation's most powerful defensive weapon for protecting the capital during the Ming Dynasty. Ming generals Xu Da and Qi Jiguang were instrumental in this endeavor.
It's said that stone steps didn't exist on the wall in the past. Instead, wooden ladders were used for climbing up and down. When the enemy attacked, the soldiers would remove the ladders, leaving only a steep slope. Soldiers would hide in the watchtowers, using the battlements and loopholes to prevent the enemy from breaking through for ten days or half a month. This is the so-called "one man guarding the pass, ten thousand men cannot break through."
The Great Wall no longer serves its former defensive function, but has been transformed into a tourist attraction. The stone steps were added to facilitate climbing.
I've been to the Great Wall a few times before, but always to the Badaling section. That was over a decade ago, and my memories are vague now. My only remaining memories are of exhaustion, heat, and crowds. I don't remember much else.
This time climbing the Mutianyu Great Wall, there were familiar places, but more of them were new and unexpected. With the New Year approaching, climbing the Great Wall, being a hero, and welcoming 2021, Mutianyu Great Wall is a great place.
In early winter in Beijing, even though the leaves had fallen, it hadn't snowed yet. But the night before we went to the Great Wall, snowflakes unexpectedly fell from the sky. We finally caught Beijing's first snow.
LUCKY SHIS DAY LUCKY DAYS FOLLOWING!!
Thinking that this time we would finally see the Great Wall, its silvery serpent dancing against the vast mountains, my heart was filled with anticipation for this trip.
We boarded the Mutianyu Bus early in the morning and headed for the Mutianyu Great Wall.
The roadside was surprisingly white along the way. The snow shone dazzlingly white under the sunlight, and the further we drove into the mountains, the thicker the snow became. Snow had also begun to accumulate on the winding mountain roads, and the car moved forward cautiously and slowly. After nearly two hours of driving, we arrived at Mutianyu Great Wall.
The snow-capped square at the entrance to the scenic area echoes with the distant mountains and the Great Wall, giving off a sense of vastness, holiness, and grandeur.
We took the scenic bus from the foot of the mountain and arrived at the scenic cable car after just over ten minutes.
As we ascended the cable car to Platform 14, we had a bird's-eye view of the Mutianyu Great Wall: a Great Wall in the snow!
As the cable car ascended, the snow-covered mountains and the Great Wall constantly shifted their poses. From different angles, we quietly watched each cable car pass overhead.
For thousands of years, the Great Wall here has weathered the flames of war and smoke, repeatedly standing alongside soldiers to defend against foreign aggression.
Has the Great Wall here ever imagined that one day a glass box, pulled by a rope, would so easily pass over her head? She looked bewildered and incredulous.
Mutianyu Great Wall is said to be the most beautiful section of the Great Wall.
Its majestic beauty lies in its dramatic peaks and ridges. Because of the steepness of the mountains, the Great Wall was built along the slopes, creating a strong sense of three-dimensionality. The famous Jiankou section, with its upside-down eagle, is breathtakingly beautiful. Climbing the Mutianyu Great Wall was a truly captivating experience. To reach Tower 20, we used both our hands and feet, using our feet to push and our hands to grasp the nearly 90-degree vertical stone steps. Its unique beauty lies in its lack of the desolate desert of Jiayuguan, and its abundance of vibrant greenery. It's said that the forest coverage here is 95%, making it a truly unique and vibrant Great Wall.
The sky was unusually blue the day we visited, incredibly blue—authentic Beijing blue. I vaguely remember hearing the term "Beijing Blue" during the last Beijing Olympics. We were in Beijing then, but too busy with mundane matters to notice it.
Seeing the Great Wall against the backdrop of white snow and the azure sky was truly an auspicious day. We arrived at the perfect time.
December, with snow, is the perfect time to visit the Great Wall and check in on the new year. In the small square in front of Enemy Tower No. 14, beneath the Mutianyu Memorial Stone, five or six cats lazily basked in the early winter sunshine. Tourists descended from the cable car and flocked to play with the cats, offering them treats and watching them scramble for food. Everyone whipped out their phones to capture this beautiful moment. The cats in the square have become an indispensable and unique landscape.
We walked along the double-sided battlemented section of the Great Wall in Mutianyu, going up and down, stretching endlessly.
The falling snow on the battlements adds a touch of enchantment to this most beautiful section of the Great Wall, inspiring visitors to recite aloud Chairman Mao's Qinyuanchun:
Snow: The scenery of the north, a thousand miles of ice, ten thousand miles of drifting snow.
Looking inside and outside the Great Wall, only vastness remains; the mighty rivers, upstream and downstream, suddenly lose their roar.
The mountains dance like silver snakes, the plains gallop like wax elephants, trying to compete with the heavens for height.
On a clear day, see the red and white, especially enchanting.
Such a beautiful landscape has attracted countless heroes to admire it. It's a pity that the Qin Emperor and Han Emperor were slightly inferior in literary talent; the Tang Emperor and Song Emperor were slightly less charming. Genghis Khan, the proud hero of his generation, only knew how to shoot eagles with a bow. All that has passed, but the heroes of today still stand. Everyone recited a line at a time, full of enthusiasm. After finishing their recitations, they looked at each other and burst into laughter. Hahahaha. As soon as one side finished, someone else started singing: The Yangtze River, the Great Wall, Huangshan Mountain, and the Yellow River, weigh heavily in my heart... Beneath the city wall's battlements, a blanket of white snow covered the ground. Several girls squatted there, building snowmen. Though their figures were small, they were still excited, dancing and bustling about. They told us it was the first time they'd ever seen snow, and they were incredibly excited. Some girls even wrote and drew on the snow, leaving behind their New Year's wishes for 2021. A little girl meticulously drew a heart in the snow. Her concentration was heartwarming. At this moment, everyone was making new wishes for tomorrow, for 2021. If you haven't been to the Great Wall, you're not a true man; if you have, you're a true man. Climbing Hero Slope and ascending the Great Wall, we pray to be heroes every year, and for all our wishes to come true.
After we descended the mountain, everyone was still eager to eat, sharing their New Year's resolutions, their hearts filled with anticipation and excitement. 2021, here we come.
2021, let's cheer together for tomorrow, for a better future.
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