Breakfast buffet again this morning. It feels like these tours are very go go go! We're off again and this time to the Great Wall, but not before we hit Monday morning Beijing rush hour traffic!
So dense were the cars, it delayed our arrival to the Great Wall, so we opted instead to go to the Sacred Way first.
The Sacred Way is a series of stone statues and animals, constructed during the Ming Dynasty (1436-1438). The stones were collected from a stone field in Beijing. There are 36 stone statues and animals, which include:
Lion, Xiezhi (mythical creature), camel, elephant, kylin (mythical creature) horse, military officials, civil officers and honored officers - in that order from south to north.
The tradition of placing stone statues in front of tombs started from the Qin and Han Dynasties (or perhaps earlier). While they are decorations, they are also symbols of status of the dead.
We then headed out to lunch, that was located by a pottery making facility.
We first got a tour of the process of making copper vases (among other items) which then dumped us to the souvenir shop. The process of creating all the vase work was astonishing. All painstakingly hand made. We then we up a floor for lunch, and headed out to the Great Wall. It is a massive defense structure built to keep intruders from invading the mainland. Like climbing the mountain ranges wouldn't be difficult enough. It stretches 4000 miles across China's north, covering 9 provinces from 200 B.C. to 1640. Here it is on the top of a mountain range as we approached.
It was blustery and cold, but amazing. We visited the Badaling section of the Great Wall - about 60km to the northwest of downtown Beijing, or 116°65’ east longitude and 40°25’ north latitude. It is a mountain pass of wooded Jundu Mountain. As recorded in Changan Kehua of Ming Dynasty, “Roads are separated here to extend in all directions. It is thus known as Badaling, the highest of all passes.”
We decided to take the South route, that was more apparently a more difficult part to traverse but just as rewarding as the more popular North alternative. This also meant less tourist traffic, which provided fantastic opportunities for solo photography. I scaled up to the fourth tower (a watchtower), and a few others in our group ventured that far as well. Took me about an hour, but eventually got there. Charlie made it too!
The 4th tower was way more steep to get to than any other portion and in addition, the tower was home to an incredible vortex of wind rushing in every direction. It wasn't bad enough to be pounded by wind and steeps grades the entire was up, but the "reward" was even a more powerful wind! I will have to look up the altitude of that 4th tower. The view was unmatched.
Once I was able to catch my breath and take in the landscape, it was shocking to see how the wall just meandered through the hillside, without seemingly, any purpose to the direction. For the most part, the wall remained on the tallest portion of the mountain ranges, but squiggled this way and that. Clearly cut and machined "brick", it was difficult for me to imagine the process of building this wall in 200 B.C. Stories are that the brick was prepared nearby and then brought in.
Chilled to the bone, but incredibly fortunate for the clear weather, what goes up must come down, and come down carefully. So glad they thought of handrails back then too ;) and I cannot imagine what this would be like to scale in inclement weather. We were told access to the wall (road wise) does get closed and there are gates placed along the wall to prevent pedestrian access when it is required. While waiting for the group to get back some of us noticed a man walking a camel and horse down the road. Both animals were beautiful and big. The camel was a 2 hump massive animal, and the horse looked like a very beefy Mongolian variety in white with brown and black spots. Just beautiful. I didn't have a chance to snap a pic so you'll have to take my word for it.
Because walking around for nearly 3 hours on a wall on the top of a mountain in cold and wind wasn't enough, the last stop of the day was to the Olympic Facilities and Village that was host to the Olympics in 2008. We did not have access to the venues, but were able to snap some pictures from outside. The Olympic National Stadium (Bird's Nest) and Olympic National Aquatics Centre (Watercube) were across from eachother and were ridiculously huge. As we were leaving, it was just getting dark enough to light up the venues, but we did not stay and proceeded to the hotel. I'm now convinced that everything built here is to take up as much space as possible. The grounds we were on were HUGE!
On the way back, not only did we get stuck in traffic, we were the cause of it! Imagine 3 buses all converging on one corner. It took the police to come by to help sort it out. No accidents, but an incredible mix of tetris to try to navigate one corner! I love to watch traffic weave it's way on the road, but this was a little too much. We debated calling McDonalds for delivery (yes, they deliver) while we would finish watching the live and unfolding entertainment. I cannot tell you how close all of our buses and cars were, but it was an incredible mix of vehicles!
Once at the hotel, it was time to warm up, have a meal and go to bed. I bumped up the thermostat, ordered in (wok fried rice noodle with sliced beef and vegetables) and a Tsingtao beer (China's Well Known Trademark Since 1903 says the label). It did indeed hit the spot.
Tomorrow we are flying to Xian and hopefully find some New Year's Eve events to attend to.
Good night!
JA
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