Garrison Station left in Ruins --- Sitting on a hilltop, I could see this Garrison Station slowly crumbling back to the earth from which it originally came. Its foundations hinted at its once strategic importance in Chinese history.  Some areas of the Wall were heavily enforced, while other areas of less importance had towers widely spread apart.  I imagined this was determined not only by the natural ground cover, but also on how accessible each region was for the enemy coming from the north.  

On my way across these mountains and valleys, I often wondered why they constructed the Wall here.  Surely the workers had little input in the planning of the Wall, but did they ever stop to wonder, why in the heck here, when the ground cover was virtually impassable?  These conditions left me with just two options; turn around and retrace my steps backwards, or stick with it and continue following the wall.  Most of the time, leaving the Wall was pretty much an impossible task.

Interesting Note . . .

The Gubeikou Section of the Great Wall has bullet holes in it, evidence of the last battle fought at the Great Wall in 1937.

Photographed in 1986.