2011-20 Great Wall of China
Hello All,
Our next adventure out of Beijing was to Badaling Hills where we would walk on the Great Wall of China. Since it was a three-day national Chinese holiday our guides had us up early to beat the rush of the folks that would be visiting this magnificent site.
As we all know, the Great Wall is one of the world’s greatest engineering feats. The sheer scope and the legends surrounding it symbolize the vast sweep of Chinese history and isolation of the country until very recent times. Construction was begun more than 2,000 years ago and completed under the rule of the Ming Dynasty in the 14th century. It was built originally in sections to protect provinces from northern tribes. Material used to construct the wall ranges from brick and mortar to earthen ramparts. In the 1950s, restoration was begun on several significant portions of the wall--one of the most impressive at the Badaling Hills.
Archaeologists estimate the entire wall was once 6,200 miles long. Today, it is 3,750 miles long. The roadway at the top of some wall sections is more than 20 feet wide, allowing ten men to walk abreast. Each of its great stone towers could garrison hundreds of soldiers, and are positioned at a distance of two bowshots apart so archers could defend the entire length of the wall. Its path snakes and winds because Chinese mythology maintains that demons and evil spirits can only travel in a straight line.
Our bus ride to the Great Wall was uneventful although traffic was heavy. And, upon arrival it was quite obvious that we were not the first people to arrive. From where our tour bus was forced to park it was a walk of about a mile before we reached the wall. Luckily it was another beautiful blue sky day.
Our next adventure out of Beijing was to Badaling Hills where we would walk on the Great Wall of China. Since it was a three-day national Chinese holiday our guides had us up early to beat the rush of the folks that would be visiting this magnificent site.
As we all know, the Great Wall is one of the world’s greatest engineering feats. The sheer scope and the legends surrounding it symbolize the vast sweep of Chinese history and isolation of the country until very recent times. Construction was begun more than 2,000 years ago and completed under the rule of the Ming Dynasty in the 14th century. It was built originally in sections to protect provinces from northern tribes. Material used to construct the wall ranges from brick and mortar to earthen ramparts. In the 1950s, restoration was begun on several significant portions of the wall--one of the most impressive at the Badaling Hills.
Archaeologists estimate the entire wall was once 6,200 miles long. Today, it is 3,750 miles long. The roadway at the top of some wall sections is more than 20 feet wide, allowing ten men to walk abreast. Each of its great stone towers could garrison hundreds of soldiers, and are positioned at a distance of two bowshots apart so archers could defend the entire length of the wall. Its path snakes and winds because Chinese mythology maintains that demons and evil spirits can only travel in a straight line.
Our bus ride to the Great Wall was uneventful although traffic was heavy. And, upon arrival it was quite obvious that we were not the first people to arrive. From where our tour bus was forced to park it was a walk of about a mile before we reached the wall. Luckily it was another beautiful blue sky day.
Upon arriving at the entrance gate to go up on
the wall we understandably had to pass through security. This is a national
treasure that they want to protect.
To say that it was a mass of
humanity going up the stairs onto the wall would be an understatement. Can you
find Miss Barb in this photo? We’ll give you a hint--she is on the left side of
the stairs in the distance looking back to see if Dave is following along
behind her.
Here you can see her a bit
better. The amazing thing was that there was no pushing or shoving. Everyone
was extremely patient and polite.
Once on top it is easy to see
how many folks were enjoying the experience. It is truly a magnificent piece of
work. The crowd went on for as far as the eye could see.
People asked us to take their
photos to capture their experience at this national treasure. We would always
oblige. Many wanted us to use their cameras to take photos with us. Guess our
light colored hair fascinated them! We ended up taking individual photos of all
five of the young girls in the photo below with us. They were thrilled. And, it
was all accomplished using sign language because none them spoke English, and
we speak only about 2-3 words in Chinese.
We thought it would be a real
challenge getting back down the stairs against the crowd when it was time to
go. More and more people were arriving by the minute. We decided to hug the
wall when it was time to go. To our amazement when we started down the stairs
people looked up and saw us, and then moved over to make room for us. They all
smiled at us and we smiled and nodded back at them.
There were people from all over China visiting
the Great Wall. Some of the cultures dressed infants with split pants rather
than using diapers. Our guess was that this was for training them to use the
squat toilets that are common throughout the country. It was a concept of dress
that was totally new to us. No one was offended or thought anything
disrespectful about the fact that a child’s private parts were showing. It was
just a cultural difference from that of the western world. They were so cute
walking around with their little butts sticking out. As you can see in the
photos below parents are not the least bit ashamed of this manner of dress--nor
were we. However, we modified the photo for our little blurb.
On the long walk back to the bus we passed what
appeared to be cherry trees in bloom.
Along the way there were
numerous eating establishments and shops. We stopped and had a cup of tea to
rest our weary bones. While sitting at the table Dave took a closer look at the
hat he had purchased in a local shop. It was a nice hat with a dragon on it and
the word “dragon” was spelled out using Chinese characters. We got a big laugh
when we discovered that on the back of the hat it said “Made in USA.“ So much for his treasured souvenir from
China!!
Without a doubt the Great Wall
was a wonderful experience--one that we will store away in our memory banks for
years to come. Some folks might think that visiting it during a national
holiday with all the people around would be a disaster. We found it quite
pleasant, as it provided us the opportunity to interact with many of these
wonderful kind people.
Until next time,
Dave & Barb
The Traveling Browns
Until next time,
Dave & Barb
The Traveling Browns