Today was tourism on special-forces difficulty: I finished the Great Wall at Juyong Pass in three hours, then went to the northern section at Badaling that afternoon. But this is exactly the time to run around while I am still a student. After all, I visited two sections of the Great Wall for the price of one adult ticket!

I’m exhausted and going to bed early, so here is a quick record of the route and expenses. Almost everything was half-price with a student ticket, for reference only. (The route too, probably. Does anyone else actually climb the Great Wall like this?!)

Reserved Juyong Pass in advance: ¥20 for a student ticket. (As it turned out, booking after arrival would have been perfectly fine.)

Huangtudian Station opened at 6:30 a.m. (I cycled there), and the suburban S2 train departed at 7:05. I got off at Nankou; fare: ¥3. (My transit spending passed ¥150 this month and unlocked half price. How do I travel this much?) Then bus Chang 20 to Juyongguan Village for ¥1, arriving precisely when the pass opened at 8:30.

It took half an hour to climb the western slope to Watchtower 12, its highest point. I descended slowly to protect my knees and admire the scenery along the way.

After circling the North Gate tower, I began the gentler eastern slope. Even with several caches along the way, I reached the top within an hour and came down in another half hour.

I ate lunch at the outdoor seating by the Juyong Pass Museum. My chosen spot sat between the restroom, trash cans, and convenience kiosk. Advantage: convenient. Disadvantage: every passerby in existence.

After wandering blindly for a while, I asked directions and visited the Cloud Platform, solving an EarthCache along the way. (It required geology questions. DS, lend me your strength!)

I checked the time: only 13:30. So from Parking Lot 1, I took bus 919 to Badaling Forest Park for ¥1. (I was impressed enough to post a Moment.) Bought the Great Wall ticket on the way: ¥20 for students.

Set out at 14:00 and climbed from North Tower 1 to the highest point, North Tower 8, in thirty minutes, overtaking people all the way. I continued carefully over the steeper ground and reached North Tower 12 at 15:00.

After a short rest, I returned to North Tower 11 at 15:30, left the wall there, and looped back to the starting point at 16:00.

I had expected the northern section plus a return along the same route to take four hours and planned for the 18:40 S2. The shortcut meant I caught the 16:40 instead.

I passed out on the train and recovered some sleep. Back at Huangtudian around 18:00; fare: ¥3.50.

Final total for tickets and transportation: (20*2)+3+1+1+3.5=48.5 yuan. I also tearfully spent ¥2 at the Badaling entrance because I had not brought enough water. No souvenirs. No food purchased. The theme was: “I am broke.”

Wow, this summary took half an hour—enough time for me to reach the summit (

(Oh, right. How did you know I successfully defended first place on the step leaderboard?)