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Post date: 17-Nov-2009 05:10:15
The Great Wall was amazing. We managed to capture a few fall pictures with the couple remaining leaves on a few trees and a few winter pictures with the snow on the mountains. It was a great hike from one peak to the next. The peaks looked so close together but were actually a long up hill hike away from each other. I knew the Great Wall was high but I didn't realize you could access it by gondola, which is what we did from Badaling. We enjoyed trying to follow the great wall across and up and down the mountains. It looks like it was designed by throwing down an ichiban noodle onto the ground because it winds around in circular loops around the mountain.
The Great Wall is 6347 Km long and on May 19th each year there is a marathon across part of the wall. It's also visible from outer space. It was built over 200o years ago by millions of people to protect China from Northern invaders.
We easily could have spent all day starring in awe at the great wall, but the massive uphill and stair ridden climbing made us limit our time to 3 hours. There were also swarms of wasps hanging out up there. There are numerous vendors on the wall who make the four hour trek each way to sell water and chocolate bars.
The Propaganda duck particularly enjoyed his visit at the Great Wall.
We hired a driver, Charlie for the day to take us to the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs. It was a bit pricier than if we had done a tour, but it allowed us to stay where we wanted for as long as we wanted. He took us to a great local restaurant which I will describe in more detail in our Beijing food post. It was also great to talk to a local for the day too.
While we were eating lunch in the small town, we saw lots of people harvesting and transporting cabbage.
After lunch, Charlie drove us through the winding mountainous countryside to the Ming tombs. They were nothing compared to the Great Wall; however, the temple and underground area where the tombs are stored was neat. Thirteen emperors and empresses were buried in the Ming tombs between 1368 and 1644.
This sign was in the bathroom at the Ming Tombs
Yet another caution
Our driver was also gracious enough to let us hear the opera that he recorded. Charlie was quite a man, and will not soon be forgotten.
You can view our other 197 wall and area pictures here:
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