Wednesday the 29th

The Great Wall.  One of the largest man-made objects in the world.  The only man-made object visible from space.  First begun in the 1400's in the Ming Dynasty, it now travels 8818 km across China.  It was originally supposed to keep out the invading Mongols and Manchus from the west and north, but later when those groups became incorporated into Greater China, it was less important. 

We drove about an hour from Beijing (Bei – north; jing – capital) to one section of the wall.  As soon as Ann saw the steep steps and incline, she opted to watch.  Osteoarthritic hips and steep stairs such as these are not great friends.  I decided to carry on.  I took my camera bag and began the ascent.  My knees and back help out pretty well, as did my heart.  My lungs, however, were another story.  I was huffing and puffing (with a lot of the other ancient travelers – and a lot of the young ones as well), but with a few stops, was able to get up the steep section of the trail.  I could have gone farther, but with that many miles more, when does one stop?  I took out my camera to find the battery had run down in the bag since the switch had been left "on", so all I had was my little camera.  I took a bunch of pictures, and had some fellow travelers take some of me.  This camera is movie capable, so I took some panorama views as well.  Coming down was another adventure, as the steep steps and weak quads are not always compatible.  I did make it down to meet Ann and Mei Ping. 

We went to the touristy Jade Market for lunch, along with all the other tourists.  It seems the guides take all the auslanders to these places.  We saw the demonstration for about 3 minutes and were quickly ushered in to the showroom so we could shop shop shop.  Needless to say, we had seen this coming, and weren't particularly interested.  Ann did find some little jade lions and was able to negotiate much better prices with the usually non-negotiating staff.  Again the lunch wasn't worth describing.

After lunch, we went to the Ming Tombs.  This was the burial ground of all 13 Ming emperors.  It was designed and built by the 3^rd emperor, Zhu Di, also known as Chang or Yongle, in the early 1400's.   He had moved the capital of China from Nanjing (Nan – south; jing – capital) to Dadu and renamed it Beijing (north capital).  He built the Forbidden City.  The complex was somewhat impressive, with the many large gold-roofed buildings.  They are, however, not in great repair, as plants are seen growing from the tiles of the roof.  I am beginning to learn a bit of Chinese history here, and I think there is more to learn next in Xian.

Back to the city.  We made an unplanned stop at the Olympic site, since Mei Ping was embarrassed by our tardiness yesterday to the theater.  We saw the Water Cube, the Birds Nest, and many of the other venues.  This was as close to an Olympics as I've ever gotten.  Fun.

Dinner in the hotel for western comfort food – Italian.  It really was good to have a pizza and minestrone after a week of noodles and rice.  We chatted with the Maitre d', a nice Indian guy about Paul's age who was very engaging and friendly.  He has been to various parts of China and the East, and would love to do more traveling.  A nice conversation.

So, what to think about Beijing?  This place is crazy and frenetic.  Crazier drivers than New York.  Pushier people than Jerusalem.  So many people crowded and trying to do the same thing.  A disjointed history where there were significant gaps in what we were being told.  We had long conversations with our guide about the direction of the country.  From her perspective of a 30-something, China is improving.  She contrasted her life with that of her parents (about our age) who grew up in the 60's & 70's, which was not exactly an easy time here.  She thinks things began changing in the mid 80's and continues to expand her horizons.  She gave us a nice compliment, noticing how compatible we were, and we gave here some parental advice on a long lasting relationship and on parenting.

Tomorrow to Xian and more early history.