Red Dragon by JayDaley

Thanks for stopping to look at my photo. All of my images are available for sale and can be shipped world wide. Please email jay@jdlphotography.com.au for any enquiries. **** http://bit.ly/1xbDjHB Taken on August 23rd 2013 In the weeks leading up to China I had decided that I was going to take some time for myself to just check out the country and hopefully get some shots before knuckling down to work in Shanghai. I decided I would spend a few days in the Yangshuo county (see previous posts) and then travel to the Great Wall for the remaining few. Researching the Great Wall one thing became immediately apparent – it’s home to a lot of tourists. Naturally this was a problem because people + landscape photography don’t work. So – with a little more research I discovered Jinshanling. Still a magnificent section of the wall but it’s distance and difficulty to easily commute to from Beijing made it a less desirable section for sightseer’s then the Badaling and Simatai alternatives. Perfect? No. As I would soon find out it was near impossible to get to (especially for an English speaking visitor) and even harder to get back from. None-the-less, I did eventually get there (and eventually get back as-well but that’s a whole other story). So when I finally arrived in Jinshanling three things struck me. First was the smog in the air. I knew Beijing would be incredibly polluted but with Jinshanling being some distance away I didn’t think this would be a problem, unfortunately, it seemed to be. Second, the wall was a long way UP and I was a long way DOWN. Getting up there would require a lot trekking. Finally, it was still damn hot! The next morning my alarm was set for 3:30am. I had a bad feeling about the smog and wasn’t expecting much. After a hard trek in the dark I had finally reached a section that appeared to be high enough to offer a suitable vista so I stopped to catch my breath. It was then that my cognizant moment arrived - I was standing on the Great Wall of China! By myself, absolutely alone. There was not a single sound to be heard, not a single person to be seen and to my astonishment, the smog had disappeared. Alone with my tripod, water bottle and camera I stood there and took it all in – stretching into the distance as far as I could see was an ancient brick wall, snaking it’s way along impossible ridges, atop incredible mountains and through deep green valleys. It could have been the year 1388, 1600 or 2013 – this was a timeless moment. via 500px http://bit.ly/1BoMI3y