Steve Spehar Photography

05/08/2026

04/18/2026

Posting some final edits from Beijing. As I was going through them, I realized that as photographs, many of the shots of major sites like the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven can begin to seem repetitive, so I left out a lot of shots. The reason is that these places are massive compounds with so much history and visceral presence that they can never be truly appreciated from images. In my edits, I've tried to convey the majesty and people who made them feel vibrant and magically relevant in person.

04/14/2026

The Great Wall section at Mutianyu is about 1.5 - 2 hours from Beijing, and is the second-most popular option for visiting the Wall (the most popular is the heavily restored section closer to Beijing at Badaling). While there is still a lot of restoration work done here — and more constantly underway — it is considered a little wilder, more challenging, more densely forested, and less crowded than the stretch of wall at Badaling.

It was begun around 1368 during the Ming Dynasty and is about 5k long, with 23 watchtowers along and way, plus some unique features, such as the double-sided battlements with crenelated parapets, allowing soldiers to shoot from both sides.