We asked the front desk about a taxi to the Overhanging Great Wall and the First Beacon, which marks the beginning of the Western Wall. Like Jiayuguan Fortress, much of the wall here has been rebuilt using local materials such as mud bricks, straw and dirt. I think it’s wonderful that they have preserved it, especially as there is a large industrial city encroaching on it!

It has other names and once again translations took a while to ensure we were going where we wanted to! First Beacon is also called First Pier, and Overhanging Wall was the Cantilever…once that was sorted we were on our way! There’s not much left of the First Beacon, but it overlooks the river and would have been a very strategic position to watch for enemy hordes.

The Overhanging Wall was a steep climb, but I just took 50 steps at a time…even the youngsters were breathing heavy, so I didn’t feel too bad! So we’ve done it now, and of course coming back down the pathway was a breeze! Tomorrow we are off to Lanzhou on a fast train, our last stop before Beijing…looking forward to a closeup look at the Yellow River, which I have wanted to see since high school geography!