I'm not sure you can get a view like this anywhere else in the world.[Photo by Ian Callison/chinadaily.com.cn]

And the unrestored sections are fun. There's something about scrambling up a deteriorated staircase to an empty, crumbling battlement that just gets the adrenaline pumping. Some of the wall’s causeways are only a meter across, and 5 or 6 meters high. One misplaced foot could send you tumbling down the mountain face. But I’d take slipping on loose gravel to reach the top of the wall than taking a cable car any day.

At the end of the day, we ran up the mountain again, racing the sunset. The sky was darkening as we made our ascent, and we were worried that we would be too late, then have to navigate the trail back in the dark. We almost threw in the towel and turned around.

I’m glad we didn't. The sunset at Chenjiapu valley was one of the most breathtakingly beautiful things I have ever witnessed in my life.