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| We made it! |
They say that there are 3 things you absolutely must do if you visit Beijing - we ticked off 2 of them!
*The Forbidden City
*Eat Beijing duck - which we haven’t, and
*Climb the Great Wall - we did it! Or rather we took the cable car from the village of Mutianyu to the Wall at the top of the mountain and then simply wandered, stared open=mouthed and clicked.
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| Contemplating the enormity of this complex structural effort |
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| The Wall goes on and on into the distance |
It was quite exciting to be up there. I never thought it would impact me quite so much, but it is part of such an immense structure of such historic dimensions. Actually the Great Wall comprises a number of walls that intersect and some even run parallel.
The Wall dates back well over 2000 years to the Qin dynasty when, legend has it, the bones of dead workers were incorporated into the wall as building material. Because there were a number of sections to the Wall, there were ‘gaps’ where invaders could enter. And in fact Genghis Khan did just that and sacked Beijing in 1215.
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| Arrow slits placed strategically along the length of the Wall |
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| Watchtowers are placed at intervals alomg the Wall |
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| Inside one of the Watchtowers. It would be a harsh watch. |
Combined, the entire Wall extends around 22,000 Km. We walked just a tiny 3 km of the restored section at Mutianyu, but it was thrilling to look out over rugged peaks and imagine the Tartars slipping through the passes. It is beautiful countryside - rugged and forested with valleys stretching out and away where villagers tend their orchards. We ended the day with a tea ceremony back in Beijing.
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| Far below under the cable car we could see farmers tending their trees |
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| The cable car between the village and the Wall |
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| The variety of teas available to sample was overwhelming |
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| This tea is equivalent to single malt whiskey they told us - very expensive. And it was very strong |
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