The Great Wall of China & The Imperial Tombs

We said goodbye to Mr. Wang and to Shanghai and arrived in Beijing Friday evening, April 13. One of the delegates remarked that we were flying on Friday the thirteenth, and he was sitting in the thirteenth row of the plane! All went well, though, and we checked into the Nikko New Century Hotel in Beijing late that evening. The picture here shows the NAIS delegation in Tiananmen Square.

We left the hotel Saturday morning at 8:30 to begin our weekend of "Chinese Culture Education." We were joined by Zoe, our tour guide, and Joe, our representative from Hanban. Both of these women were more than helpful during our many adventures that day. We drove to the Great Wall of China, and surprise, surprise, we were not the only ones who had that very same plan for the morning! We were joined by thousands and thousands of other people.

The Great Wall of China is actually not one wall, but many walls built over a long period of time. Begun as early as the seventh century B.C., much of the work was completed during the Qin (we would pronounce it "chin") Dynasty under its first emperor around 221 - 210 B.C. This emperor, Qinshi Huangdi is the same one who is remembered for the terra-cotta warriors near Xi-an. That is a place I must visit the next time I am in China!

The wall continued being built during the Han dynasty as well as the Jin and Ming dynasties.

The wall is impressive for its sheer magnitude. The part we visited is the Badaling which is about 43 miles northwest of Beijing. Zoe told us that it is important to have "connections" when in China, and since she does have connections, we were able to be dropped off very close to the ticket area. Others climbed for forty minutes from a parking lot down the hill.

We had a choice between climbing to the right of the entrance -- a part of the wall that is easier to climb but more crowded or climbing to the left -- a part of the wall that is harder and steeper to climb but less crowded. Can you guess which path all of us head-strong heads chose? Yes, we all went the "hard" way. While the wall was steep and uneven, people of all ages from the toddlers wobbling their ways up to the elderly with canes and a look of determination. One of our delegates missed a step and tore the knee of his pants, and on the way down on an area that was slick,steep and without steps (more like a slide!), I slid down and landed half on the rock wall and half on a nice Australian woman's running shoe. She was talking on her cellphone at the time, and I heard her scream and then say, "I'm fine. Some woman just fell and landed on my foot! Yes, she's okay."

The atmosphere on the steps could have been viewed as comical at times, as peddlers called out to tourists for attention -- pashminas, hats, toys, t-shirts, and postcards could all be ours for a "good price." To appreciate the scenery and the experience, several of us later said that we had to put bubbles around ourselves. At one point, I stopped and traced the Chinese graffiti with my finger, rubbed the wall, took in the view from every direction, listened to all of the different languages spoken by the climbers, and smelled the fresh air (a change from the big cities). Yes, it was a feast for the senses. I enjoyed being in the "present" trying not to think, "I hope I get to come back" but instead thinking "I am so glad I am here."

Our lunch was in a restaurant above a cloisonné factory and store. We enjoyed learning about how cloisonné is made and watching the young women work with the intricate designs. We continue to be treated with an excellent variety of food. We are definitely getting well fed.




After a lunch featuring Beijing food, we visited the Imperial Tombs. Three tombs, Changling, Dingling, and Zhaoling, are open to the public. Visitors reach the tombs by passing through (or around) a five-arched gateway, through a three-arched gateway, and along Spirit Avenue, which long and lined with statues of animals, both real and mythological. Two of the delegates have previously traveled to Egypt, and they said that the animals reminded them of statues that they had seen there. I told them that the reminded me of the animal statues in front of the Memphis Zoo!