China Day 13 -- Beijing, The Great Wall, Ming Tombs and Goodbye

Day 13, Beijing -- Jade factory, The Great Wall, Cloisonne', and The Ming Tombs.

First stop, the Jade Factory. As usual, I am not too interested in this stuff, but, as usual, I get interested after seeing it. The Jade Factory was my favorite "factory" since the carvings were amazing. The Chinese love jade and it goes back as far as Chinese civilization itself. They equate it with virtue.

It's hard to believe that a craftsman can make these things. Here's one of those "gotta-have-it" items, and I had it all picked out, but Lisa didn't want to spend $4,500 US on what she called a dumb boat. "It's art!" I argued, but she wouldn't budge. "I'm sure this baby would be worth $4,550 in 10 years! Don't you want virtue?"

The jade carvings were fun and I could have stayed taking pics, but we were all anxious to see the Great Wall. I started to work on Lisa about how we needed a jade horse to complete our home decor of "Early Ming Dynasty", but the bus was leaving.

We hop on the bus and are excited to see one of the great wonders of the world; the only man-made object one can see from space. (Clicking on the pics, as always, enlarges them. Hit your "back" arrow to return.) Stretching over 4,000 miles, The Great Wall is awesome. It is the longest man-made structure in the world. Construction of the Great Wall started in the 7th century B.C. The vassal states under the Zhou Dynasty in the northern parts of the country each built their own walls for defence purposes. After the state of Qin unified China in 221 B.C., it joined the walls to hold off the invaders from the Xiongnu tribes in the north.

We are taken to the Badaling section of the Great Wall, one of several access sites. Here's my review: The Wall is very cool and steeped in Chinese history. We are told that you can go up to the right or the left. When I asked about the difference, I was told that the left side offered a greater view and better pictures. This photo shows the steepest part of our climb. Almost straight up, I was surprised how steep this part was. I was excited to be on the wall and had lots of energy. We hiked 3,999.9 miles, but just couldn't make that last 10th of a mile since we had to get back to the bus.

Speaking of buses, here's what brings 4, 000,000 (four million, no joke) visitors a year to the Great Wall. I don't think that I have been to a more popular tourist site.





I liked everything about the Great Wall except one thing: they allow vendors on the wall as far as the vendors wish to hike. Here is what we saw at every turn, (although I have to admit, a cold brew is just what the doctor ordered after the Long March.) I did however object to the t-shirts, chop sticks, paintings, and silly certificates that said, "I climbed The Great Wall." I am very selective in what I find inappropriate.





The wall is fun and everyone seemed to be having a good time walking on a piece of history. It's just like walking across the Golden Gate Bridge, except that it's a wall, different country, different history, different historical importance, and different relevance. Here, one of the local girls kept waving at me.





Guess what is one of the biggest problems facing the wall. Erosion? Cheap hiking sticks chipping the stones? Nope, it's graffiti. Enlarge this pic by clicking on it and you'll see the Chinese writing in every brick. Seems like everyone wants to be immortalized by carving their name or a saying into the millions of bricks along the wall.



The steps are old, uneven, and worn. With the heat and crowds, sometimes you just need to take a break.



After the Great Wall, we are taken to a Cliosonne' factory. Cloisonné is a unique combination of copper and porcelain working skills, traditional painting, sculpting,and etching skills. As bored as I thought I'd be walking around a "vase store", I actually was impressed with the workmanship of the items. Also, you cannot believe what they can make from this intricate process. Lisa shopped and I wandered around looking for pics like this one.

After the Cloisonne Factory, we head to the Ming Tombs, a 15-square mile complex where 13 emperors are buried. Construction of the tombs started in 1409 and ended with the fall of the Ming Dynasty in 1644. Everything ever written about the Ming Tombs is here.





One of my (and many others) favorite spots in this area is the Sacred Way. The emperor, it is believed, gets to return to heaven via this road. It is lined with 12 human and 24 animal statues.

And, of course, I get a kick out of the signs.

OK, this is the last funny sign that I see in China and the last photo of one. I wasn't looking for this site, but while researching about the Ming Tombs, I bumped into a guy who collects funny signs. His pics of signs are here.

One irresistible part of the Sacred Way is to goof with the statues. I don't don't why, but no one can resist it. Everyone took silly pics in some sort of wacky pose while standing next to, under, or atop a statue. Even Mao got into it.

Like the Forbidden City and Tian'anmen Square, the Ming Tombs are full of temples, pavilions, statues, walkways, archways, thresholds, and glorious history. This statue of one of the emperors fascinated me. Not the statue so much, but the amount of money people had thrown at his feet. I don't know what the money is for or represents, but there was a lot of it, and unguarded. I don't think you would see this in the US.

At one end of the Sacred Way is the Stele Pavilion which houses poems, inscriptions, and the accomplishments of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty which lasted almost 300 years.

Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, the China blog is about to end. It has been fun remembering our trip and going through the pictures.

Throughout the trip, we looked for the "real" China. I am not sure what that is. Like the US, what is the "real" part? New York? The South? The Grand Canyon? I suppose it's all real. This is what I thought it would be, and in parts, it was.

This too was real, and frankly, not surprising. My guess is that this is where it is all heading, so if you are thinking of visiting China, you might consider going soon.

We enjoyed meeting and travelling with our tour comrades, many of whom are reading this now. I hope you are all doing well and that you enjoyed looking through the China trip again.

On Day 14, I took no pictures, but we walked around Beijing and were taken to two shopping areas. We then departed for the airport for the 12-hour flight home. So long China; we had a great time.