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Great Wall and Sacred Way
Great Wall of China and the Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs

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Wall01 Of course, no visit to China is complete without a visit to the Great Wall. We went to Badaling Hills, one of the closest sections to Beijing. This segment has been restored and is is pretty good condition. The section you see in this picture is the one most people climb - it has stairways leading up to the towers. I climbed the other side with ramps. A bit steeper overall, but shorter distances to reach heights for good pictures. Wall01
Wall01a This is the section I climbed. It looks easier without the steps, but believe me, looks are deceiving! Especially on the way down. Wall01a
Wall02 We had such a beautiful day here. The wind was blowing in, but had not yet brought in the desert sands. It's rare to have such a clear day. I just loved the vistas here. Wall02
Wall03 Yup, I actually was there and took the pictures. Wall03
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Wall05 The climb is definitely worth it. Wall05
Wall06 You can't walk this wall without feeling the history, even if much of it is fiction. No, you cannot see the Great Wall from the Moon. It actually did a very poor job of keeping out invaders. But it was a huge achievement. Wall06
Wall07 The hillsides around Beijing are all terraced like this. All the terracing was done by hand to combat erosion caused by massive deforestation over the centuries. The trees you see are an effort to reforest the area, partially for land stability, and also for air quality - to catch the sands as they blow in from the Gobi Desert. It is actually required that each resident in Beijing plant one tree every year. The State provides the tree, but they must take a day to go outside the city and plant. On the way up to the Wall we saw several planting Wall07
Wall08 Looking the other way from the Wall, toward the North East. The yellowish haze at the bottom is the start of the sands blowing in from the Gobi. The next day, my departure day, Beijing was again covered in haze and grit from this. Was interesting flying out through the layer. The winds created 3 beautiful days of sight seeing, but for those living in Beijing, it also eventually brought the sandstorms common in springtime. Wall08
Wall09 My favorite image. This was an archway in one of the guard towers. It shows the vista, but also the massive number of people visiting the Wall every day. Wall09
Wall10 Another archway. Wall10
Wall11 The gentleman on the right refused to move for several minutes so I could take the picture. I still like this vista, however. Wall11
Wall12 Here comes the horde! At times, there are just waves of people climbing, though most go the other direction. Wall12
Wall13 A girl's school group was climbing as I headed down. They were more than happy to allow me to take their picture. In China, the school Wall13
Wall14 Our last stop was the Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs. This was at the entry explaining and giving the layout of the tombs themselves...at least the ones they've found. Wall14
Wall15 This board explained the statues themselves, from the Wall15
Wall16 The way is lined with statues, starting with Meritorius Ministers from the North and South, Civil Officials, Military Officials, and various animals, real and mythical. There are two statues of each type, one on either side of the walk. They are seemingly identical... Wall16
Wall17 But if you look closely, you'll see that one side the official is frowning, but on the other, he's smiling. After I realized that, I took only pictures of the Wall17
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Wall21 So much damage done to these over time, likely from pollution from coal fires and other sources. Hopefully new damage is lessening. Wall21
Wall22 Now we get into the creatures. Wall22
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Wall25 Mythical Unicorn, in case you were wondering. Wall25
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Wall27 You know I loved the elephants! Wall27
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Wall29 Couldn't resist. Also gives you a size perspective of these statues. Wall29
Wall30 The influences from many areas are shown in the animals. Obviously elephants and camels aren't native to China, but were used by the caravans who traded, and many of those people eventually settled here. Wall30
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