Asian Adventure: Cathay Pacific B777-300ER Business Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
Asian Adventure: Cathay Pacific Lounge Review: The Cabin at HKG
Asian Adventure: Cathay Dragon A330-300 Business Class Hong Kong to Beijing
Asian Adventure: Regent Beijing Hotel
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Dongcheng District
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Great Wall
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Run-ze Jade Garden
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Legend of Kung Fu
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Tiananmen Square
Asian Adventure: Beijing - The Forbidden City
Asian Adventure: Beijing - Hutong Tour via Rickshaw, Tea Tasting, Flying to Xi’an
Asian Adventure: Hotel Shangri-La Xi’an
Asian Adventure: Xi’an - Qing Dynasty Terra Cotta Warriors
Asian Adventure: Xi’an - Tang Dynasty Dinner and Show
Asian Adventure: Xi’an Wrap-Up, Flying to Lhasa, Lhasa Home Visit
Asian Adventure: Shangri-La Hotel Lhasa
Asian Adventure: Lhasa - Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Market
Asian Adventure: Lhasa - Canggu Nunnery and Sera Monastery
Asian Adventure: Lhasa - Potala Palace
Asian Adventure: Leaving Lhasa and Flying to Chongqing
Asian Adventure: Viking Emerald
Asian Adventure: Shibaozhai Temple
Asian Adventure: Cruising the Three Gorges
Asian Adventure: Three Gorges Dam
Asian Adventure: Jingzhou City Walls Tour
Asian Adventure: Wuhan - Hubei Bells Performance and Provincial Museum
Asian Adventure: Shanghai - Shanghai Museum
Asian Adventure: Fairmont Peace Hotel, Shanghai
Asian Adventure: Shanghai - Old Shanghai and Yuyan Gardens
Asian Adventure: The New Otani Tokyo Hotel
Asian Adventure: Tokyo - City Tour
Asian Adventure: Mt. Fuji and Hakone Tour Returning by Shinkansen
Asian Adventure: ANA Suites Lounge Review, Tokyo Narita
Asian Adventure: All Nippon Airways B777-300ER First Class Tokyo Narita to Houston
Our tour got officially underway with a schedule change. The schedule we'd been given indicated we'd visit Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City on our first day but since our first day was a Monday and the Forbidden City was closed on Mondays, like a lot of museums around the world, we saved those sites for Tuesday and visited the Great Wall instead.
We met our Viking guide, Jack, in the lobby on Monday morning. There was another group, led by Leo, who were doing the same tour so our groups were often in the same place together. I really appreciated that all the Viking tour guides and the ship's crew adopted English names because it made life much easier for us.
After breakfast Jack's group of 31 folks boarded a motorcoach and drove about 1.5 hours northwest of the city to an area called Badaling where we'd get to explore a well-preserved section of the Great Wall. It rained on us during the entire bus ride out there and for most of our visit to the wall, which was disappointing. On the other hand, there weren't as many tourists at the wall because of the weather so that was a plus. Unfortunately it also meant our photos were not as good as they might otherwise have been.
The wall was quite steep in sections and some areas did not have steps so it was challenging in spots to be walking up wet, slick, centuries-old stones. While some of us did slip, at least no one was seriously injured.
If you're like me and don't know much about the history of the wall, here's a quick primer. Between the 8th and 5th centuries BC different warring states built different sections of the wall. This practice continued into the 12th century AD. In the 14th century Emperor Ming decided to "stitch together" all the various sections into a single unit as that would help prevent the raiding Mongols.
The bus dropped us off and we started making our way up the slightly inclined walk toward the entrance. Once we went through the security check we reached this display to welcome visitors.
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| Welcome to the Great Wall (I guess!) |
Across the service road from that display is this retaining wall with depictions of various parts of the Great Wall etched into it.
And, taking a note from theme parks everywhere, even the trash cans remind you of your location.
This section has a number of different layers but the archway is still wide enough to handle today's vehicles. Inside are a number of shops and facilities that would need a way for delivery trucks to reach them.
Entering via the archway we found ourselves in a plaza with shops. On one side was the turnstile area where we could begin our climb. I like the bright colors used to decorate that area.
Along the wall there are towers at various spots. It's kinda hard to see but there's one at the top of the hill.
At this point we were on our own and free to walk/climb the wall as much as we wanted, as long as we met back in the plaza at the appointed time. Some of us hiked to 4-5 towers away while others of us went 2-3 towers.
Sometimes I've skied a slope that was pretty steep and when I've reached the bottom I've thought - I want to take a picture of that because it was so steep! And when I look at the photo I realize it doesn't convey what I was feeling. That's the same situation we ran into here. This photo makes the walk look like a long, slow incline.
But when I got back to the plaza I realized that distance gave it a little bit of perspective.
And stepping back even farther actually gave a better feel for its steepness.
I recall being in Greece ten years before this trip and being frustrated at the amount of graffiti people had carved into ancient rocks when the guide pointed out it was not a new phenomenon as one of the carvings was from Lord Byron over 100 years prior. And we learned it's not restricted to Westerners either as there was writing etched into the bricks and stones of the Great Wall too.
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| Great Wall Graffiti |
The towers did offer brief shelter from the rain though with open windows it wasn't completely dry. But here's a shot of the plaza area down below.
And I think this was the best shot I took of the wall.
The Great Wall is a UNESCO World Heritage Site so I got to check another one off my list. There is a myth that the wall can be seen with the naked eye from outer space but that is truly a myth. Others claim it is visible from a low earth orbit but that claim is disputed as the weather would have to be absolutely perfect and the viewer must know exactly where to look. Even with ideal conditions, the coloring of the wall would help it to blend in with the area when viewed from orbit. It's said that even looking through a camera's viewfinder it would be hard to find the wall.
Like most folks I'd seen photos the wall but had never given much thought to its construction, durability and attraction. It was a fascinating thing to see and I'd love to have another visit if I ever make it back to China.
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