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| Beijing is China's capitol and is filled with the most amazing array of historical sites. I hope that this is not too slow to download as there are going to be a lot of photographs..... Day 1 Beijing was hot (over 30ºC - 90ºF) and very humid with overcast skies.
Outside the largest of the Imperial Ming Dynasty Tombs built for the 3rd Emperor of the dynasty.
And here's the man himself. This building and statue have stood for over 600 years and are in incredible condition. They have banned any further excavations on tombs in the area until technology allows them to preserve all the articles that they might find.
This is called the Gate of Paradise at the entrance to the tomb. Legend has it that married couples who walk through together right foot first will remain married in the afterlife.
We did not make it to the tombs at Xian where the terracotta army has been discovered but they had examples of them for sale. Could you imagine trying to take this one through customs!?
We visited a section of the Great Wall at Badaling which has been restored for tourists and is in good condition for climbing. It is only one part of the original 7600 km (4750 mile) structure built over the last 2700 years. Only about one third remains in good condition, one third has been eroded and one third demolished for use in other buildings. At the foot of this section is a sign that says something along the lines of 'You are not a hero unless you climb the Great Wall'. If you ever do this, just make sure that you bring plenty of water and leave a fresh shirt in your vehicle - we probably lost 4-5lbs on this hike and had to sit in wet clothes all the way back to the hotel.
Halfway up this section of the wall there is a booth that takes photographs and gives you a 'Hero Card' for your wallet (a message for Orla's brother-in-law, Pete). Inside the watch towers is surprisingly cool and a welcome break every 10-15 minutes.
This was the view beyond the hero card vendor - it was almost vertical at times with very uneven steps. We climbed up through six watch towers to the very highest point. It is hard to believe the effort required to build the wall in such terrain. It is sometimes referred to as the longest cemetery in the world due to the fact that workers who died in it's construction were buried inside it. Note that the highest building you can see in this photograph is a bathroom for climbers not the highest tower.
These were our fellow climbers - Carlos (from Madrid), Dana and Innez (from New York City) - together on top of the highest tower for a breather before the descent.....
We had shaky legs for a long climb down - after climbing for an hour and 15 minutes it only took 30 minutes to come back down. Remember that earlier photograph from below? That long building in the center of this photograph is the bathroom which was the highest one we could see. Unfortunately, visibility was not great - there would have been spectacular views across several of the hills from this point on a clear day. Day 2 The Summer Palace of the Dowager Empress on the northwest side of Beijing is another World Heritage site. It is a huge enclosed park that surrounds a lake with many ornate buildings and parklands. It was built originally in the 1750's, destroyed by the French in the 1800's and then rebuilt in the late 1800's.
The entrance is surrounded by statues of fantastic creatures - I brought one of my own to join them!
The longest corridor in the world is here - over 728m (800 yards) long with 8000 crossbeams that are each hand-painted with a scene from Chinese mythical tales.
The promenade stretches from one side of the lake to the other along the north shore. It is obviously a major tourist site for local Chinese as well as visitors.
There are a number of major temples and areas within the grounds - all extremely ornate. The amount of work involved must have been incredible.
Small boats are available to shuttle back and forth across the lake.
A small island in the center of the lake is accessed via an ornate bridge with seventeen arches and over 500 carved lions. It would not be out of place in Paris or Venice. Day 3 A busy day sightseeing on another hot and sweltering day. We visited the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and The Temple of Heaven.
The Forbidden City is huge with over 9000 rooms in a massive fortified complex that was the exclusive home to the emperors of China for over 5 centuries. It is now a huge draw for tourists from all over China and the rest of the world. This is the main square inside where the emperor would sit for public celebrations.
There are a whole series of temples and buildings through the center of the complex - all made of wood and all very ornate.
This is the emperor's main throne.
Gilded bronze animals guard the entrance to another temple.
This is a rock garden built to remind the emperor's and his concubines of what their homelands looked like - the lookout tower on the top enabled them to see over Beijing.
On to Tiananmen Square which is directly adjacent to the Forbidden City complex to the south. It is a huge area full of people and surrounded by all sorts of public buildings. It is the largest square in the world with an area of some 400 000 square meters (484 000 square yards).
The Temple of Heaven on the southern side of Beijing is the largest existing temple in China. It is another of the sites listed as part of the World Heritage. |
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