Day 5--ShanHaiGuan, Longevity Mountain, and the Great Wall

SHAN HAI GUAN

We left at 6:30 a.m. to catch our train to ShanHaiGuan--where the beginning of the Great Wall meets the Pacific Ocean.  Emily and I went on this trip a couple of summers ago when we first visited Shenyang and we really enjoyed it!  I haven't been to the Great Wall in Beijing yet, but have heard from many people that ShanHaiGuan is a more low key, relaxed version of the trip, which I thought my family would enjoy....  plus, I was somewhat familiar with it, so it was fun to show them around!

When we first arrived, my friend Amber who went with us, scored 2 taxi drivers who offered to chauffeur us around for our 2 day stay!  This made our trip just that much more enjoyable.

We checked into our hotel (which was great!), and then our taxi drivers suggested a place for lunch and took us there.  They had us call them when we were ready and they basically planned out our itinerary for us.  It was completely opposite of what I had in mind, but it went very smoothly and I am so grateful that they were placed in our path.

LONGEVITY MOUNTAIN

After lunch, we ventured out to Longevity Mountain.  This place was absolutely stunning!  We were taken part way up the mountain by a "trolley".  We were then dropped off and told we had about 2 hours to explore.

The Trolley---not really sure what else to call it...

Power Nap on the way up...

My Dad and Sarah on the ride up... can you find them? ;)

We hiked up the 5 Layers of Heaven which was really phenomenal!  The view was beautiful and the architecture was outstanding.  And man, was this a workout!  I found it hard to believe that we would successfully climb the Great Wall just an hour later...  but hey, it was part of the ticket, so we had to try!

One of my favorite views of the mountain

Another favorite

Emily took another power nap on the way down...  thank goodness... because it was time for the Great Wall!


THE GREAT WALL

This part of the Great Wall was the older part of the wall.  We went on a Monday...  and much to our surprise, we almost had the entire place to ourselves!!  Can you believe that!?  It was so nice and peaceful...  minus the constant throbbing in our legs. ;) 

Emily was a rock star!  She climbed the 5 Layers of Heaven, and then....  with full energy....  climbed to the top of the Great Wall! 

Getting our names engraved on our Great Wall key chains

My mom used her charades to successfully buy a mirror
with her name engraved on it.

Emily and Sarah climbing the last stretch 

We made it to the TOP!

Pappy made it to the TOP!

On the way down...

I would definitely suggest The Great Wall in ShanHaiGuan for a nice get-a-way and lots of fun!