Mid-Autumn festival  is a bit like Thanksgiving in the US, family gets together and celebrates the harvest and family unions. For me, that meant 4 days away from work. I ended up hoping on a 4 hour high speed train down to Shanhaiguan, a small city on the sea East of Beijing. This is where the main Great Wall of China ends, extending into the sea by 23 meters. I arrived to a city covered in  a slightly unpleasant smog, but I was not about to let that stop me from seeing the sights.

This is definitely a Chinese tourist town; only one hotel takes foreigners and the only group I saw were some Danish people traveling on a tour bus around the whole country. After unpacking my bag, I set out in the main walled section of the city where I was staying.

Here I was greeted by the First Pass Under Heaven Gate. This is the marker that divides what was then China and the uncontrolled areas to the East. Zhendong Tower stands atop the gate.

Walking on the wall, here is a view of the Zhendong Tower from the uncontrolled side. You can see the windows, which was where archers would be stationed for protection.

Walking further down the wall, you can see how empty this area is. It is not nearly as popular as the section of wall near Beijing. You can also see additional towers atop the wall and the mountains in the background. I actually took this picture the last day, when it was clear out and you could see everything much better.

A view of the last tower on this section of the wall.

Walking around the walled city, I ended up going into the central tower. As with any tower in China, there is a bell that you can ring.

Pearls freshly harvested and being made into necklaces.

Grilled squid was a very popular dish, sold all over the streets.

Children feeding crazy fish. I think the fish were trying to grow legs so they could crawl out of the water for more food.

I stopped by the free Great Wall Museum, which was excellent. Great history of how the Great Wall is actually many walls built over the last 2500 years. It showed how different areas were made with different materials and the historical and cultural importance to China today. They also had some cool weapons that are preserved here.

They also had a picture of what the whole Shanhaiguan pass area looks like. You can see the Walled City in the center, where I was staying.

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Day two brought me to the actual end of the wall. There is an old barracks where the troops stayed. Here is a mural in the entrance of the Generals quarters for this section of the wall.

The most iconic picture of Shanhaiguan, the Laolongtou or Dragons Head. This is the last point along the wall where it ends in the sea.

Another view from on top of the wall. You can see just how tall it really is with the people standing right next to it.

From the end of the Great Wall, I headed inland to the 5 Buddha National Park. Again, another place few foreigners go. So few, some Chinese tourist wanted to get a picture with me.

The rocks here were incredible and the water was so clear. It was amazing how the mountains just appear from knowhere, only a few kilometers inland from the sea.

An inter park bus brought me deep into the park, where a series of 9 huts (temples?) are built leading up a mountain. Of course I had to check these out and see the views.

One of the 9 huts along the route.

Looking down at my progress, the stairs were steep and uneven. One slip and you would have a long fall. Unfortunately, time was not really on my side and I still had things I wanted to see. It took me about 45 minutes to make it up to the 5th one. The path also got much worse going up, and being alone I did not want to take any unnecessary risks. Very few people were up here anyways. I did end up meeting a guy I had seen yesterday, we ended up chatting a bit and he said he would help me get to the first section of wall the going into the mountains. I wish I took a video of the bus ride down the mountain, because it was crazy, the driver should try racing cars.

An hour later and I was at the Great Wall again. Here I am on the wall, about to hike up to the first tower off in the distance. This was another area that had some danger to it. The wall gets very steep and few rails to hang onto. I would not want to climb this in the rain.

Made it to the first tower, looking farther up you can see the second one not too far away. From there, the wall is blocked off to tourist, as it turns wild and not kept up.

The next day was clear, but I was scheduled to leave unfortunately. I ended up snapping a few better pictures of the First Pass gate, before walking to the train station for a quick ride home. Overall, it was a fun experience and I was very happy the crowds were light.

I would like to make it back here with a friend and head deeper inland, where you can hike along the wall for many miles and stay at small villages.