Great Wall Changyucheng

On Sunday afternoon last week, the first day of Spring Festival, Randy proposed a bit of an adventure. He has been researching through books and the internet some Great Wall locations around Beijing that are somewhat off the beaten path. Sunday he wanted to drive to a village called Changyucheng somewhere west of us. He had the GPS coordinates and an idea that the location was in Changping District.

We drove through the mountains, even in these shades of brown just beautiful.

Every time we pass the terraced mountains, all I can think about is how many people spent so much time during the Great Leap Forward working on these, by hand with shovels.

When we arrived in the village, it was quiet and seemed deserted. Of course, it was the first day of Spring Festival so most people were in their homes, celebrating. We saw portions of the Great Wall network that dated back hundreds of years, and unrestored in modern times. I cannot find the information, but Randy believes he read that the Wall in this area was originally built 1000 years ago.








I'm anxious to get more historical information on this village and its ancient arches. While there were tourist signs directing us there as we got close, there wasn't much else at the village to indicate the significance of the Wall and structures.

On our way there and back to our home again, we saw other things that were interesting, but in a different way. We saw several villa developments that appeared to be abandoned mid-construction. And we passed by the opulent Pine Valley and its golf courses and polo grounds. Someday we'll be less surprised by seeing such things. It isn't that we are shocked by the golf courses and other hang-outs for the leisurely and wealthy. It's just their locations, rural areas so close to the not-wealthy, that surprise us.