Shandan has a cement factory close by and as we walked eastward to find the Great Wall we could smell smoke from the factory. It persisted as we walked along the main road out of town. We soon found the Great Wall and apart from a couple of places it was easy to walk along it.

We took refuge inside the Great Wall twice today. First to get out of the heat in the middle of the day and later to get out of the cold wind. Cold wind you may ask? If my GPS is correct we have been walking at about 1.800 metres above sea level, so if it is cloudy and the wind blows hard, it can get pretty cold here.

After walking half the day we came to a place where the Ming and Han Dynasty Walls run in parallel very close to each other, one bigger than the other.  One place they were only ten metres from each other. With dark clouds and rain heading in from behind us, it made for good photography.

We are staying at a roadside motel tonight. Jon spoke to some of the drivers and they told us they expected rain tonight.