Dangerous and beautiful

Members of the Giant Gooo-go Great Wall go to Jiankou Great Wall every Saturday [Photo provided to China Daily]

It takes about two and a half hours to drive to the Jiankou Great Wall from Beijing's downtown. You have to wear mountaineering shoes and skid-proof gloves. Prepare a simple lunch and pack sufficient water. Make sure you have enough food and water if you plan to camp at night.

When we arrive at the Xizhazi Village, we stop at first in a simple restroom because there are no toilets on the Great Wall. The wall here has no entrance fee as it is unattended, but the villagers will charge you a ticket to the village for 20 yuan ($3.27) per person and parking fees.

After climbing awhile on a zig-zagging path up the mountain, we come to one of the beacon towers and are shocked by the nearly vertical and dilapidated Great Wall in front of us.

We head for the east part of Jiankou, which is a bit easier to climb than the west part. It's like rock climbing, and I have to use my hands and feet to keep balance. There are no guard bars for protection, so I tried my best to be as careful as I can.

Sometimes we need to help each other in danger. When I struggled to climb the steep slope and tried to crouch to the ground, one man stood on the adjacent bricks and caught my hands. If I had lost my balance at that time, I would have fallen down the cliff. He risks his life as well because beyond the bricks is the cliff face.