The Great Wall of China is one of the world’s most known landmarks. Throughout my early years, I saw pictures of the Great Wall and often wondered what it looked like, what was its actual purpose, and where it was. On this trip our group took the opportunity to explore a portion of it. We were not disappointed in any way.
Huanghuacheng Great Wall
We hiked and climbed the Huanghuacheng Great Wall section. This section, known for the yellow flowers all over the mountains, was built in the 2nd year of the Yongle Period in the Mind Dynasty (1404). This served as the north gate guarding the capital and as the important gateway guarding the Ming Tombs as well. The construction lasted 188 years, from 1404 to 1592, and the wall is 8 miles long in this section. This section uniquely offers three places to see where the wall goes under water.
As a tourist, there are no complaints. You walk through a quaint village (Jiuduhe Town) on the way to the wall itself. Once there, there is a gorgeous lake and a dam area that you can hike. Haoming Lake is surrounded by the wall. We were able to take a boat ride from one end of the lake to the other and view the way from the lake as well. This was nice since we had already climbed the wall.
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History Made
While we were there, two of our group were engaged. I was hiking down the trail and looked up on the bridge where the proposal was taking place. We were excited to capture this moment for them. There are various shots of the proposal but I’ll let that be their story and will only include one of the shots here.
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