Dandong Part II: Hushan Great Wall

Obligatory Standing on The Great Wall Shot

The big goals on this trip were: crossing into DPRK getting as close to DPRK as possible, seeing The Great Wall (conveniently located near the boarder), visiting the "Museum of American Aggression and Aid to Korea", and seeing the nearly destroyed Yalu River Bridge. So naturally the first thing we did was try to kill two birds with one stone and made a beeline for The Hushan Great Wall. Not coincidentally this is also probably the closest we got to N. Korea (for those that want the details that is 40.223767 N ,124.519391 E).


After an eventful train ride from Liaoyang into Dandong, and getting a little lost in Dandong, we finally arrived at the waterfront and were greeted by this view of Sinŭiju, DPRK (North Korea).

One of Many Parks along the Yalu River (N. Korea in the Background)

 It was kind of a weird feeling being so close to a nation that is so closed to us (Americans and the world in general). It's a like drinking in Canada when you are 19 (at least how I imagine that would feel). Dandong is like a loophole, it feels like you are getting away with something but technically you are operating inside the rules. It is hard to describe why being so close to North Korea is entertaining, but I can say it's one of those things I did "for the story". Along those lines I have been looking into guided tours into Pyongyang. I probably have too much sense to go through with that one though.

After getting oriented in Dandong, we finally made it to the hotel. We just got in a cab, called the hotel and gave him the phone. I like to imagine the call went like this:

Hotel: Hi, this is the Crowne Plaza Dandong
Taxi Guy: Hi, I have three foreigners with me and I think they want me to take them to you, where are you?
Hotel: -Gives Directions-
Taxi Guy: Okay
Us: Unintelligible Chinese trying to tell him thank you.

Checking Out the Room

Our Rooms Had Extra Heavy TV's

By the time we got to the hotel it was about 6:30am and the sun was just coming up over the DPRK and we got a few good shots from the hotel room.

Sun Rising Over Moon Island (foreground) and DPRK (background)

After dropping our stuff in the hotel, we hit breakfast, grabbed the tourist attractions hotel business card and headed out to get a taxi. First stop, Hushan Great Wall at Tiger Mountain.

Most Important Tool of the Day

 The Hushan (English: Tiger Mountain) Great Wall marks the Eastern end of the Ming Dynasty's (1368-1644) addition to The Great Wall. This section of the wall is approx. 1km (0.6 miles) long and rises to a height of 146m (+/- 1100ft). Also it happens to be conveniently located about 100ft from the Chinese-DPRK boarder.

Chinese Korean War Vets Posing at the River/Boarder

About this point, one of the Chinese guards told us it was not okay to take pictures of DPRK from here. So focus on the Chinese Vets and totally ignore the land in the background. To avoid the eyes and "rules" of the Chinese military we continued down a path along the rocks on the right, hoping to get a little bit closer to Korea (perhaps even get a chance to have a picture inside?). Turns out the path was not for the faint of heart. Here is just a sampling of the crazy "path" we encountered.

Mild

Above not too bad, below a little worse but there are handrails, and it isn't very long. Plus there are stairs!

A Little Crazy

About here, I'm starting to get nervous about what can be worse than a Chinese cable bridge...

Getting Even Worse

Well it does get worse...This is pretty much a vertical 10-12ft face with footholds and handrails. At this point it felt wrong to turn back. Thankfully we all survived just fine. Plus there are still handrails so its not technically climbing at this point.

Pretty Crazy for a Footpath...

One last picture, Jason and Robert in one of the narrower parts of this section. All this and we haven't even been on top of the Wall yet.

Jason and Robert Enjoying the View of N. Korea

So after that whole path, finally we are face-to-face with one of the unrestored ends of the Great Wall. We just can't catch a break. Only one way to go here.

No we didn't actually climb this, just out of the frame to the right is a set of stairs. About now, it is starting to get warm out, we got through all the other mildly insane parts of the trail and now we are faced with this to get to the top.

The climb was well worth the effort though. At the top watchtower on the wall you could see right down the boarder between the two nations. Really an interesting experience. As closed off as China is, it is nothing compared to DPRK. Looking down the boarder it is easy to see which country is which. China has turned Dandong into a Chinese tourist attraction with lots of development and attractions. Even now, China is planning for Dandong to develop into a new major import/export hub for not only China but also for DPRK.

Looking Down to the Chinese Side

Looking Down to the DPRK Side

Getting a small taste of the Great Wall here really has me itching to see the big one near Beijing. After climbing all the way up this rock, to the top of the watchtower you really have to wonder, "How in the Hell did these little Chinese guys pile all these rocks and bricks and mortar up this high?" And remember it isn't just here that they did it. This wall stretched for thousands of miles, pretty much all the way along the Chinese-Mongolian boarder, absolutely insane. Even with today's modern technology no one would be crazy enough to try it. Think about it, the US is trying to put up a boarder fence, a big fence not a 40ft stone wall, along our boarder with Mexico and we are finding it near impossible. These guys did it, bigger, better, and longer, between 500 and 1000 years ago. Absolutely crazy.

From Wikipedia 

The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east, to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. The most comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has recently concluded that the entire Great Wall, with all of its branches, stretches for 8,851.8 km (5,500.3 mi). This is made up of 6,259.6 km (3,889.5 mi) sections of actual wall, 359.7 km (223.5 mi) of trenches and 2,232.5 km (1,387.2 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers.

After that mini-epiphany on top of the wall, it was starting to get a little more crowded. I was seeing all the Chinese people coming up the front way, which naturally I assumed was the easier way. I was correct that it was easier, but there were still parts of it that were a shade dangerous and I assume would not make their way into any of our National Parks (at least not marked as a footpath and having a handrail).

In case you think that might just be an optical illusion, I also took one from the bottom with people coming down.

I have to say, there are worse ways to start the day than climbing around on the Great Wall. After safely making it the rest of the way down off the wall we hopped in a taxi and headed to "The Museum of American Aggression and Aid to Korea"...to be continued.

Leaving the Hushan Great Wall: Robert (left) and Jason (right)