Ground entrance to the Wall
We visited the 黄崖关 (Huángyáguān- Yellow Cliff Pass) section of the Great Wall that straddles the boundary of 河北 (Héběi) Province and 天津 (Tiānjīn) Province.
This was our first driving excursion outside of Beijing Province, and it was a pleasant surprise. All but the final 25 kilometres of 120 kilometre trip to Wall were on the lightly travelled and brand new 京平高速公路 (Jīngpíng Gāosùgōnglù - Jingping Expressway)
Because the traffic was so light and there were few yahoos on the road, I could dial my hyper vigilance down a notch and enjoy the sight of the mountains and pretty harvest-ready farmland.
From time to time I felt like I was driving on Highway 401 or 417 back home, but the feeling would quickly pass. After all, the 401, 417, and just about any other highway you can name, are in terrible shape. They're nowhere near as good as the Jingping.
The photo shows where we utlimately parked our car, at the ground-level entrance to the Huángyáguān section of the Great Wall. But we didn't enter the Wall here. We took a shuttle bus to the upper mountain entrance to the Huángyáguān Wall with the intention of walking back to the lower entrance and our car.
Looking at the terrain, we figured the trip would be easy, because it should be mostly downhill.
Ground entrance to the Wall
We visited the 黄崖关 (Huángyáguān- Yellow Cliff Pass) section of the Great Wall that straddles the boundary of 河北 (Héběi) Province and 天津 (Tiānjīn) Province.
This was our first driving excursion outside of Beijing Province, and it was a pleasant surprise. All but the final 25 kilometres of 120 kilometre trip to Wall were on the lightly travelled and brand new 京平高速公路 (Jīngpíng Gāosùgōnglù - Jingping Expressway)
Because the traffic was so light and there were few yahoos on the road, I could dial my hyper vigilance down a notch and enjoy the sight of the mountains and pretty harvest-ready farmland.
From time to time I felt like I was driving on Highway 401 or 417 back home, but the feeling would quickly pass. After all, the 401, 417, and just about any other highway you can name, are in terrible shape. They're nowhere near as good as the Jingping.
The photo shows where we utlimately parked our car, at the ground-level entrance to the Huángyáguān section of the Great Wall. But we didn't enter the Wall here. We took a shuttle bus to the upper mountain entrance to the Huángyáguān Wall with the intention of walking back to the lower entrance and our car.
Looking at the terrain, we figured the trip would be easy, because it should be mostly downhill.