While normally a morning person, regularly used to getting up at 4:30 AM, on this trip I had started to get in the habit of sleeping later. Such was the habit that when the alarm went off at 5:30 AM, so we could get cleaned up and eat some breakfast before we to be picked up at 7:00 AM, that I immediately wanted to toss the alarm clock out the window. For several reasons, though, I didn't, like it was the only alarm clock I had along with me for the trip (and would probably need it again), I really did need to get up and get ready, and most importantly, there was no window to toss it out of.
The mini-bus, sans tour guide, picked us up promptly at 7:00 AM. It was a hoot watching the bus, the driver, and the throng of locals kibitzing away on how to turn a mini-bus around in a very narrow street. With Ho-Ki and I safely on the now turned-around bus, we headed off to pick up the rest of our companions (and hopefully a tour guide) for our trip to the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs. By shortly after 7:30 AM we had our full complement of passengers, including our tour guide, Cindi, a 23-year old young lady who was going to lead us and give us the scoop on the days adventures, so we headed off across Beijing on our way to the Great Wall.
The problem with trying to head across Beijing at 7:30 AM is that the approximately 15 million Beijing residents and in the process of heading somewhere as well, so the place is one gigantic traffic jam the size of Belgium. Cindi, our tour guide, kept comforting us by saying that these delays are all factored into their schedules, but I noticed her incessant checking of her mobile phone, so I was quite sure that she wasn't as confident of us meeting the schedule as she was telling us. She advised us that our plan would be to visit the Ming Tombs first, then go to the Great Wall after lunch. In discussing the Ming Tombs, we found out that visiting the avenue of the statues was not on the agenda. Ho-Ki had seen the avenue during his 1973 trade delegation visit, and was very impressed, so he lobbied to have them included in our tour. All but one of the group concurred, so some money changed hands and we visited the avenue of the statues. It was worth the extra funds.
The best preserved of the 13 Ming Tombs was that of Changling, the third Ming Emperor, so that is where we spent our time. It was interesting, not so much for the artifacts (which were certainly noteworthy), but for the impressive vistas over the area, China's "Valley of the Kings". And while Changling's Tomb was the best preserved, it was not original, it was a rebuild. Apparently, all of the tombs had been destroyed and/or defaced at one time or the other during their history, so none of the tombs were original. Disappointing.
We were hurried out of the tomb area, and straight to the place that's on the top of every tourists' list, the jade factory, an over-the-top out-and-out marketing and sales pitch, somewhat akin to timeshare presentations. It seems that there's a symbiotic relationship between the tour companies and these factories, and I'm sure the "factories" do help to offset some of the cost of the tours, but the cheesiness factor really spoils the tour. What's more, guess where you eat your lunch on these tours, yep, in the dining room of the factory, where else.
Lunch done, and some members of our group sporting some new rather expensive souvenirs, we boarded our mini-bus again and off to the Great Wall, but not to the Great Wall at Badaling as advertised. It seems that the Badaling highway was closed for repair, so we would be going to another place on the Wall, this one a little steeper! A little steeper, my butt! I've seen pictures of the Wall at Badaling, and while there certainly are some steep parts, there was also some rolling terrain. Not so with the Wall at JuYongGuan. It was impressive to look at, but it was damn near vertical straight out of the parking lot. As a matter of fact, the flattest and easiest part of the walk here was from the parking lot to the wall. Damn, damn, and damn some more.
All the walking Ho-Ki and I had done on the trip I thought would serve me well, and it did to an extent. What I didn't anticipate was that in bruising my tail-bone in my fall the previous day, was that every time I raised either of my legs to climb the next step, sheets of pain shot down my butt to my legs. I managed to climb close to 150 vertical feet of steps before I couldn't do anymore. Ho-Ki, on the other hand, sailed right past me and up the mountain. I was happy for Ho-Ki, yet disappointed that I couldn't do more, and even more disappointed that I hadn't done better homework for such an inspiring side tour. Maybe next time. In our later discussions, I explained to Ho-Ki that no amount of photos and reading could have prepared me for the sheer size of the Forbidden City. The Great Wall, on the other hand, I believe is captured beautifully in the vast number of photographs of it, and the photos do it justice in size and scope over hill, mountain and dell. The one things photos of the Wall can't capture, however, is the enormity of the task that faced the engineers who built it.
I was certainly glad for the opportunity and experience of climbing on the Wall, but be assured, there was no walking. The scenery was breathtaking, and the one member of our party that did climb all the way to the top was rewarded with a view of Beijing, now stripped of all it's normal haze and pollution, that was truly spectacular.
We boarded the bus and headed back for our last night in our temporary home at the Tianxiang Courtyard hotel in Beijing. We passed the vast complex that was going to be the grounds for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, and saw the still uncompleted stadium that is affectionately being call the Bird's Nest. We thanked ourselves for not having to contend with that mess.
Tomorrow afternoon, it was to be off to the Beijing West Train Station and train # T75 to Xi'an and the next leg in our adventure...
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