Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

Photos from our Boxing Day hike along the Great Wall from Jiankou to Mutianyu.

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Every Christmas we do a fun Great Wall hike or two, and finish up with a feast and a dumpling-making competition.

The dumpling-making competition is a lot of fun, with prizes awarded in two categories: “Most Dumplings made in three minutes”, and “Best Dumpling” i.e. the most beautiful!

See below for our 2015 Boxing Day edition - shots of the snowy hills and Great Wall on the hike, and photos from the contest.

Hiking up to the Great Wall - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

Hiking up to the Great Wall.

In the shady valleys there was still a lot of snow on the ground - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

In the shady valleys there was still a lot of snow on the ground.

Taking a break on the way up to the wall - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

Taking a break on the way up to the wall.

Hiking on up. With the scenery all black and white, the red ribbons were easy to spot! - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

Hiking on up. With the scenery all black and white, the red ribbons were easy to spot!

Getting closer to the Great Wall on the Jiankou side - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

Getting closer to the Great Wall on the Jiankou side.

We continued up through the forest - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

We continued up through the forest.

The view from the top - spectacular! - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

The view from the top - spectacular!

On top of the General’s Tower at Jiankou - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

On top of the General’s Tower at Jiankou.

A view towards the “Ox-Horn” tower and on to Mutianyu - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

A view towards the “Ox-Horn” tower and on to Mutianyu.

Time to move on - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

Time to move on.

From here we hiked along the wall to Mutianyu - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

From here we hiked along the wall to Mutianyu.

The trail was rather icy, and we took it slow - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

The trail was rather icy, and we took it slow.

The Great Wall here climbs steeply to a high point known as the “Ox-Horn” turn - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

The Great Wall here climbs steeply to a high point known as the “Ox-Horn” turn.

The red ribbons on the tree mark the beginning of the park section at Mutianyu - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

The red ribbons on the tree mark the beginning of the park section at Mutianyu.

We hiked down from the Mutianyu Great Wall to finish the walk - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

We hiked down from the Mutianyu Great Wall to finish the walk.

After lunch, we set up the dumpling-making competition - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

After lunch, we set up the dumpling-making competition.

The competition has begun! - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

The competition has begun!

Filling and wrapping the dumplings - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

Filling and wrapping the dumplings.

Time is running out - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

Time is running out.

Time for one last dumpling - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

Time for one last dumpling.

One more! - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

One more!

Almost done - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

Almost done.

Tina is displaying the prizes - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

Tina is displaying the prizes.

Congratulations to the winner! - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

Congratulations to the winner!

And the winner in the other category! - Boxing Day Great Wall hike at Jiankou and Mutianyu, 2015/12/26

And the winner in the other category!