It was pouring when we left Vancouver - the rain had finally chased us out of Canada. Eleven hours later, but with a nine hour shift in time zone, we arrived in China and checked in to our old courtyard guesthouse in a central Beijing hutong. Thus it was a badly jetlagged pair who wandered out on a hazy day to visit the traditional tourist sights in this enormous bustling city.

We walked from our guesthouse through the older traditional streets of the hutong to reach The Forbidden City, where we spent the morning exploring but a part of its incredible interior of palaces, halls, courtyards and gardens (see end of this page for some photos).

From here we wandered over to Tian'anmen Square, the geographic centre of Beijing and symbolic centre of China, again awash with local tourists. It was here that the crowds and jetlag caught up with me and a migraine gained hold. We retreated to our room at the guesthouse and I spent the next six hours with a splitting headache and throwing up to end my Beijing experience. Luckily, I had a good nurse. Sorry to be so graphic, but such are the hazards of long distance travel.

The following morning, I felt fine if a little washed out. It was raining steadily when our guide, Robert, and driver, Mr Liao, picked us up at our guesthouse in the Zhengjue hutong near central Beijing. It was looking like the Canadian weather had followed us here. However, by the time we drove through the Beijing traffic, cruised down the highway to Huairou and wound our way through increasingly narrow country and mountain roads to Xizhazi village and the start of our Great Wall walking adventure, things were looking decidedly better. The rain had stopped and, although the sky was still overcast, the western horizon was starting to look lighter.

It felt good to be taking our first hiking footsteps in China, as we followed Robert on to a small footpath that wound its way around the garden and orchard plots of the village. We had started the climb up to the Jiankou wild wall, a section of unrestored great wall that had been built in the 14th century during the Ming dynasty.

Leaving the village gardens behind, we started to climb steeply up a small tree-filled ravine. Behind us, we were hemmed in by a range of high hills while ahead and above, we started getting our first look at the wall as a series of towers appeared on the sharp edged knobs of the ridge beyond. To say that these mountains are rugged is an understatement.

Approaching the precipitous trace of the Jiankou Great Wall

The climb became steeper, as we left the ravine to continue up the slope via a series of switchbacks. We were actually approaching from the north, the direction that invading armies would come from. Looking up at the towers, it was clear that you could not sneak up on the defenders. The switchbacks eventually brought us to the Zhengbeilou Tower and we were on the wall itself.

We climbed up to the top of the watchtower to get our first good look at the length of the wall – amazing. To the west it dropped away to a saddle before snaking its way steeply up the spine of the ridge to the next pinnacle and watchtower, while to the south the terrain dropped away to a deep valley with distant ranges and flatter land beyond – the land the wall was built to protect. To the east was our route, along a long section of wall, bricks crumbling in parts, overgrown by shrubs and trees in others, but still emanating a feeling of impregnability as it wound its way along the spine of the ridge.

The cold north wind soon had us putting on our rain jackets to keep its bite out. When we reached The Ox Horn, a section where the wall headed steeply up to a pinnacle before descending even more steeply, we left it to take a short-cut across the slope of the mountain-side. The condition of the surface on the descent was considered too dangerous and hiking it was discouraged by management.

Not long after, we reached the end of the wild Jiankou Wall. Here, Tower 20 marked the start of the Mutianyu section - originally built in the 6th century, rebuilt in the 16th century and recently restored. Here, a combination of re-used old bricks and new brick and stonework has been used to recreate the wall as the original builders had made it. It was fascinating to compare the two sections and appreciate both how well it had been built and how well it had stood up to the ravages of time.

Here we could stroll down three abreast on the smooth flat pavers if we wanted – it was however, a slow wander between the rebuilt ramparts, as we took in the incredible views over the rugged mountain landscape and long profile of the wall twisting its path from high point to high point along the ridge. There were more people visiting this restored section, but we still did not feel crowded.

Too soon we reached Tower 5, one of the main access points for the Mutianyu Great Wall, but for us it was the exit. Robert led us off the wall to follow a stone-stepped path downhill, making a pleasant detour past a limestone cave and gardens to reach the village and car park at the base.

It had been a cold night and Mr Liao was obliged to scrape the ice from the car windscreen before we set out, after eating yet another huge meal – this time a traditional Chinese breakfast of corn porridge, egg and pancakes with pickled radish and pickled tofu. We were not going hungry on this walk.

The sun was shining brightly this morning and on the hill-tops around the village we could see the towers of the unrestored Gubeikou section of the wall. Arriving in the dark, we did not appreciate that we had slept just under it. This, however, was not where we were headed. We had a 30 minute drive to reach the starting point of today's walk below the eastern end of the Jinshanling Great Wall. The track started alongside the road and Robert led us quickly up a gully, still in the shade and frosty underfoot, to reach a set of stone steps and the welcome sunshine. The steps took us the rest of the way up to the Kylin Tower. The wall here has not been restored, but having been built later in the Ming Dynasty and only being 400 years old was better preserved than the Jiankou Wall. As we reached the top, we stepped into the cold wind blowing in from Siberia – despite the sunshine, our jackets stayed on.

We then turned westwards to start our hike along this section, its sinuous path lit up by the sun as it snaked its way along the steep pinnacles and saddles of a ridge top, backed by the rugged mountains and ranges receding into the distance. It was an incredibly panoramic section and probably the one that best shows the character of the Great Wall.

Sadly, today's walk was shorter, but we had a plane to catch – our brief time in China was almost over. Once again, we used the main access point to leave the wall and follow the stone steps down to the carpark for an early lunch and the 90 minute trip to Beijing Airport. It had been a wonderful couple of days and the fulfilment of a long ambition to visit this wonder of the world. We had walked three sections of The Great Wall and seen two others. Thanks, Robert, for being an excellent guide and companion and for teaching us so much about the Great Wall of China.

Fifteen kilometres down, only 5985 to go!

Although these pages are not usually about cities, below are some images of The Forbidden City – it is so large that a visit to it could almost qualify as a hike. The photos are just aspects of this amazing palace that caught my interest for one reason or another.