Early birds enjoy peace and quiet at China's Great Wall

Feb 2, 2010, 9:00 GMT

Beijing - Still only half awake, Vincent Liu stumbles his way through the bus station in Miyun. He has already been on the move by bus and train for nearly three hours and the 32-year-old still has another hour to go before he finally sets eyes on the Great Wall of China.

Liu has spent the last 13 years living in Beijing and has often seen the Great Wall at its most popular and well-known section in Badaling, but that doesn't compare to what awaits him today at the segment from Jinshanling to Simatai.

Here, Liu is visiting what he calls the 'real' Great Wall, at a place where every metre has not been painstakingly restored.

Having set off from the Chinese capital at four in the morning, Liu eventually reaches his destination, 120 kilometres north-east of Beijing, shortly after 9am with the sun still battling to shine through the early morning winter mist.

The trip has cost Liu and his companion from London, John Ayers, a total of 100 yuan (approximately 15 dollars), although an organized tour to the same location, where visitors are collected from their hotel, would cost three times as much.

However, Liu and Ayers not only wanted to save money but also to travel alone so as to have the Great Wall to themselves.

The walk along the Wall from Jinshanling to Simatai takes four to five hours and in contrast to Badaling, resembles a roller-coaster without a safety certificate.

The undulating, steep stairways are particularly dangerous as many of the steps have crumbled away. At other points, the Wall looks as it might do in the aftermath of an earthquake.

This section has been in place for more than 400 years and dates back to the Ming Dynasty, when it was either built or restored.

The section is, for the most part, in its original condition, and although the temperature hovers around freezing point, Liu has long since stuffed his jacket into his rucksack as he tackles yet another steep incline.

'Badaling is swarming with tourists and T-shirt sellers. Here we really have the Wall to ourselves,' explains Liu, who in three hours has come across just three hawkers and two other hikers.

The pair pass by over 30 watchtowers with long stretches of Wall in between before they finally reach Simatai where a second ticket has to be purchased if they want to progress any further.

There is also another toll due to cross a rope bridge from the eastern to the western section of the Simatai section. After that, the route rises steeply once again with a 150-metre drop on one side.

Only a few tourists make it to the highest point of the Simatai Wall section where the 'Heaven's Ladder' route leads to the 986-metre-high 'Beijing View' and 'Angel's Tower.'

Not surprising really, as this section is 80-degrees steep in places and demands not only courage but a certain degree of climbing experience.

The two towers on 'Heaven's Bridge' are linked by a narrow 100-metre-long ridge that is just 40 centimetres wide in places. Whoever surmounts this challenge can enjoy a view of the lights of Beijing as well as the title of 'Hero of the Chinese Wall.'

For Liu and Sayers, an ascent up Heaven's Ladder would be too dangerous on this occasion as both already feel exhausted after their long trek from Beijing.

But neither feels any sense of disappointment.

'Now I know how (Barack) Obama felt when he visited the Wall,' says Ayers, in reference to the time China's most famous site was cordoned off at Badaling for the visit of the US President in November 2009.

'But I bet he didn't have to get up so early,' he adds.