The Great Wall at Lianyunling

We took a trip to the Great Wall at Lianyunling during Bob, Sue and Alyssa's visit during the end of October. Lianyunling literally means "a ridge linked to the sky".

Click to enlarge any picture.

The Lianyunling section of the Great Wall is wild or largely unrestored.  There are very few visitors here - we saw only half a dozen other people the entire time we were there. The reason there are so few people might be the 1100 steps up to the wall.

Here Bob and Sue are huffing and puffing their way up.

There are plenty of places to stop and admire the view (and rest) on the way up. This is the Xiangshuihu section across the valley.

Our guide has been to the Great Wall over 2000 times. He is in great shape but no spring chicken. He charged right up and waited patiently for us to catch up.

There is a small shrine on the way up. There are 9 dragons in this grotto. I'm not sure who made the offerings. We didn't see anyone but the fruit looked fresh. I got a kick out of the snack package left there.

Margot says this is Guanyin or the Goddess of Mercy. She first learned about Guanyin in Singapore on a cultural tour.

Guanyin has an extensive Wikipedia entry if you want to now more.

Guanyin

This is the payoff when you get onto the wall. You can see other watchtowers on the horizon. It's a shame it was a little hazy.

Here is Bob posing before he steps through the entry door into the wall.

Here is Alyssa at the wall.

Here I am on the wall.

You can see that this section of the wall is unrestored. It would be pretty tough going to get to that watchtower. There are signs saying "No Hiking" but our guide encouraged us to go if we felt up to it.

I was so worn out from the 1100 steps that I demurred as did the rest of the group.

Here is another view of a watchtower from the path up to the wall.

I spotted these wildflowers and this bee on the way up. Again, a good reason to stop and rest.

The ivy and sumac was just starting to change colors.