China Trip: Day 4 – Climbing the Great Wall…

After visiting the jade factory, we made our way towards the Great Wall. We stopped for lunch at a nearby restaurant that was exclusively built to host President Nixon during a visit in the 70s. Kinda surreal. They had a number of pictures of famous political figures on the restaurant walls. I had my first taste of garlic chives which ended up being one of my favorite dishes on the trip (they have a surprisingly sweet taste).

After the meal, we were dropped off at the base of the Badaling section of the Great Wall. It was time to burn a few calories.

A single soldier minded the front gate:

Now for a few fun facts:

• Badaling is the most visited section of the Wall, and is located approximately 50 miles northwest of Beijing.

• Constructed during the Ming dynasty around 1505, it was considered a critical point of defense.

• The Great Wall is 4,500 miles long — the distance between Miami and the North Pole.

• If you took all the bricks from the Ming portion of the Wall alone, they could circle the Earth at the equator in a wall five feet high and three feet thick.

• The Wall’s height averages from 15 to 30 feet high, and it’s width averages from 15-25 feet wide with about a 13-foot wide roadway on top. Large enough for five horses or 10 men standing side-by-side. I guess that’s why some say it is actually visible from space!

It has been carefully restored, and in 1957, Badaling was the first section of the Great Wall to open officially to tourists. I guess it is needless to say that the place is a hot spot & we were among a fairly large crowd of tourists.

When you climb the Badaling wall – you have two options:Go to the right or the left. Option A: the left, is a climb that takes you to a nice viewing tower, but the steps are dangerously steep & I’d say it’s definitely not an option for those that might be in any way afraid of heights. Going to the right is the more popular route and looks like this:

The climb is still fairly steep and arduous, and it requires quite a few breaks (if you’re in the shape I’m in). I have to say, though, that the view across the mountains was quite gorgeous at the top. The wall looks like a ribbon winding through the mountain pass.

On the climb up, there is a huge billboard advertising next year’s Olympic games in Beijing. It must be at least the size of the Hollywood sign in LA.

Here’s another close-up of a watchtower.

I made it to the first major peak, and turned back with most of the crowd. *LOL*
After returning to the base of the wall, we did a bit of shopping.

My friend Mimi purchased a number of fun souvenirs from the official Olympics store. The “mascots” for the next Olympics are these lil’ animals called “friendlies”, and you have to admit…they are pretty darn cute. What is cool is that when you put their names together, they actually spell out — Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni — “Welcome to Beijing.”

I did a bit of shopping in another souvenir store, but was a bit taken aback by the aggressiveness of the salespeople. When you walked in the door, one would get “assigned” to you and never leave your side for as long as you were in the store. I think they tried to get me to buy at least 50 items, including shirts for my niece & nephew back home that said, “I walked the great wall of China.” *LOL* As I’m a browser, I felt a bit claustrophobic after a while & had to head out the door. I opted for a nice walk down the street instead.

Found a couple of interesting sights… 1) I realized that most floral landscaping in China is done in pots. All the hotels have these nicely arranged floral landscapes that actually aren’t planted in the ground! It’s kind of bizarre. Here’s an example…

And 2) hanging in a restaurant window, I was able to get a glance at what was coming this evening…a Peking Duck Dinner!