The Great Wall
Trip Start
Sep 23, 2008
1
14
40
Trip End
Oct 31, 2008
Beijing,
China
Monday, October 6, 2008
First stop was the Great Wall at a place called Badaling about 70km from Beijing.
This part of the Wall covers a valley that is on a trade route. The Wall snakes across the hills, down into the valley where there is a gatehouse and up the hills on the other side.
It is quite steep, the wall narrows in places so that two people cannot walk side by side and the steps are warn smooth. When we got there it was fairly busy, when we left it was beginning to get really busy.
The Wall is impressive, there's not really a lot more to say about it - it's the Great Wall of China.
The weather today was not outstanding, it rained a little bit but otherwise was OK.
By the time we left it was getting rather busy, tomorrow everyone is back to work (except for us of course we've got lots more time off, are you back at work tomorrow?).
After lunch it was off to a Ming dynasty tomb. In the one valley there are the tombs of 13 Ming emperors. Each tomb is a large mound - which is the tomb itself and includes an underground palace - with a series of buildings and gateways leading to the tomb.
Today included the obligatory stops for presentations of Chinese handicrafts and, of course, opportunities to purchase such works. Today was Cloisonne and Jade.
