Two separate postcards arrive to tell me about sections of the wall that are not restored, only partially restored, or off limits to travelers.
As The Conqueror says, Virtually anything is possible!
Today I’ll share snippets of one of them.
This postcard begins, “Gubeikou Wall is a dilapidated and unrestored part of the Great Wall. There are no parapets, no battlements and no paved paths. The wild vegetation envelopes the walls into the landscape and the towers are either in ruins or completely destroyed.”
It goes on to talk about when it was built, the architecture and makeup of this wall in its heyday, the battles it saw, and the village nearby. It ends by telling me:
Past the village to the east is the entry to Panlongshan and its two watchtowers. The first one, General Tower, is a square shaped, two-storey building that was used as the commanding office. Now roofless, it has been exposed to the elements. The second one is the 24-window Tower, the last watchtower on this section. Three storeys high, the first two levels used to have three windows per side adding up to 24, hence the name, but two sides of the building have now collapsed leaving the other two heavily supported by steel poles.
Whilst the Wall continues on beyond 24-window Tower, it becomes a military zone and so inaccessible to travellers.
aka gringita 