The photograph was taken at the Great Wall at Simatai, China, about four hours outside of Beijing by bus. Simatai is the most remote of the three Great Wall sites that people visit from Beijing and the most unrestored. There are steep climbs and crumbling walls that offer sweeping views of the landscape. Thanks to the remoteness of the wall, few people go to Simatai which means that you can spend hours walking on the wall without seeing more than a handful of other people.

The day that I took this photograph was in mid July 2000, and low clouds and mist were a welcome change from the scorching heat of the past few days. I was visiting the Wall with a friend that I had not seen in years and I we decided to take a break from our walk and conversation in one of the watchtowers that are periodically spaced along the Wall. I looked through one of the openings in the tower and saw the Wall stretching before me into the mists, making the ancient wonder even more dramatic.