In some lonely mountain pass in Hebei
One Sunday after Mass, with our fall sports seasons done, we decided to take a road trip into the mountains west of Beijing in Hebei Province. Our goal was to find as much old Great Wall as we could in area of Henglingcun.
We were barely out of the Western reaches of Beijing when we began to see some of the lingering snow from the storm from two weeks before.
Our friends who live north of Changping in the Ming Tombs villages told us they had 40 cm of snow, while in Changping town we only saw little more than half that. A little further north, in the mountains of Yanqing, our friends' friends had over a meter. It appears that around Henglingcun, they probably also had a meter or more of snow. The few inches we had in Changping had long since melted, but in this part of Hebei, it appeared to stay cold enough those previous two weeks to keep the snow a bit longer.
It looked like the day would have something for everyone in our family: crumbling Great Wall and fortresses AND snow deep enough for a little bit of play.
More after the jump
On the Western and Northern passes through the mountains the Ming emperors built several similar layers of defensive walls. Badaling is today the most restored and visited by tourists. Huanghuacheng area we spend the most time exploring. In the mountains around Henglingcun there are stretches of nearly forgotten Great Wall that stand, still, all these centuries after they fell out of need or maintenance.
When I see structures like this, one that would be vulnerable to the elements and opportunistic villagers in search of building materials, I am amazed. How does it come to be here still?
Once again, for some in our family, what was most exciting was not these historical structures, but rather something much rarer for us even in cold Beijing.
We were barely out of the Western reaches of Beijing when we began to see some of the lingering snow from the storm from two weeks before.
Our friends who live north of Changping in the Ming Tombs villages told us they had 40 cm of snow, while in Changping town we only saw little more than half that. A little further north, in the mountains of Yanqing, our friends' friends had over a meter. It appears that around Henglingcun, they probably also had a meter or more of snow. The few inches we had in Changping had long since melted, but in this part of Hebei, it appeared to stay cold enough those previous two weeks to keep the snow a bit longer.
It looked like the day would have something for everyone in our family: crumbling Great Wall and fortresses AND snow deep enough for a little bit of play.
More after the jump
On the Western and Northern passes through the mountains the Ming emperors built several similar layers of defensive walls. Badaling is today the most restored and visited by tourists. Huanghuacheng area we spend the most time exploring. In the mountains around Henglingcun there are stretches of nearly forgotten Great Wall that stand, still, all these centuries after they fell out of need or maintenance.
When I see structures like this, one that would be vulnerable to the elements and opportunistic villagers in search of building materials, I am amazed. How does it come to be here still?
Once again, for some in our family, what was most exciting was not these historical structures, but rather something much rarer for us even in cold Beijing.
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