Do you remember this gentleman? He is Mr. Yang Li Wei, the first Chinese astronaut to orbit the earth, back in 2003. When he was asked if he saw the Great Wall from space, he said he did not. Reported here.
I believe him. I can hardly see the wild trail and the ruined towers of the great wall while I was hiking on it !!! (shown below)
So, the Badaling and Mutianyu sections of the Great Wall are very, very different from reality. Those sections have been rebuilt using new stones/rocks for tourism purposes. See picture of Mutianyu below (taken a few years back).
The unprotected great wall sections are commonly known as the Wild Great Wall to the locals. I had the opportunity to join a hiking group during one weekend to the Pinggu district, which is located in the northeast of Beijing city.
Starting point of the hiking trail.
Along the trail, there were many abandoned traditional village huts. I can imagine that life has become very tough as farmers. Most of them went to the city to find jobs.
One of the huts.
Once on the wall, it didn't look good. Yes, this is the present condition of most sections of the great wall, with hikers like me contributing to its deterioration :)
Really, it's just not possible for Mr Astronaut Yang to see this from space.
Walking along the edge of the wall .....
There was splendid view on top of the hills .....
The most challenging part for me was when I have to climb more than 45degrees up to the ruined tower. I can imagine how fit the soldiers were when they have to run up and down the wall in ancient times. The greatwall is really a great engineering feat, spanning a few thousand kilometers and built not on flat land but on top of the rolling hills !!!
At the end of our hike, there was a scenic lake ....