Trip of a Lifetime - Day 5

We had an early breakfast at the hotel and boarded the bus for the Badaling Hills to walk along one of the best preserved sections of the Great Wall and see the magnificent views. Here, the Great Wall is nearly 28 feet high and wide enough for 10 people to walk along side by side.

The Great Wall is the world's longest human-made structure, stretching over approximately 6,400 km (4,000 miles) from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. It is also the largest human-made structure ever built in terms of surface area and mass.
The traffic in the city was very heavy and it took well over an hour for us to get there. However, the scenery the last 30 minutes of the trip was spectacular, so that made up for the traffic.

The Great Wall is breathtaking ... something that you've read about and heard about all you life, but never expected to be able to walk on it. I say walk .. it was more of a climb and I thought seriously about crawling the last part that we walked. Actually, it was harder coming down than it was going up! Thank goodness I had been exercising some at home or I would never had made it to the second tower!

It seems as though everything in China is uphill. I said the same thing when we were in Jerusalem. I know that from an engineer's standpoint that's impossible, but it certainly seemed that way.

We had some time left before we gathered together for our next stop of the day, so we went to the coffee shop near where the bus had dropped us off , had a beer rather than coffee since it was very hot, and rested until the others returned. It was good to have a little down time.

While we were still on the Great Wall, I bought a couple of really neat paper hats like this young man is wearing. We also had a group photograph taken so we could remember this very special time in China.

When we left the Great Wall, we traveled another 45 minutes and went to a jade factory. There were some lovely pieces there and I especially liked this piece.

They provided lunch for us which was delicious. It was served Chinese style and they always have a Lazy Susan in the middle of the table. They save the best dish for the last and then the meal is complete when they bring Dragon Fruit and thin slices of Watermelon.

Our guide, Helen, warned us to beware of the "Hello, Hello" people. We later found out that they are the street vendors and they follow you everywhere and will pester you to death if you let them. They don't seem to comprehend the word no.
After lunch we went to the Ming Dynasty Tombs. We rode in a golf cart along the Sacred Way since my legs were really tired from the climb on the wall and the walk was over a mile. That was a good choice! The site of the Ming Dynasty Imperial Tombs was carefully chosen according to Feng Shui principles. According to these, bad spirits and evil winds descending from the North must be deflected; therefore, an arc-shaped area at the foot of the Jundu Mountains north of Beijing was selected. This 40 square kilometer area - enclosed by the mountains in a pristine, quiet valley full of dark earth, tranquil water and other necessities as per Feng Shui - would become the necropolis of the Ming Dynasty. The entire tomb site is surrounded by a wall, and a seven kilometer road named the "Spirit Way" leads into the complex which is one of the finest preserved pieces of 15th century Chinese art and architecture. The front gate of the complex is a large, three-arched gateway, painted red, and called the "Great Red Gate". Today is our last full day in Beijing so we will pack this evening and have dinner at the hotel.

As an aside, in Beijing, you can't have a dog that's taller than 35 centimeters and there are no pets on the streets. People have birds for pets and take them to the park in their cages, hang the cages in the trees and visit and exercise while their birds sing. We will finally board out riverboat tomorrow and then the great adventure gets even better. Can't wait! Stay tuned :-) Pcasso