Beijing, Day Two

Today was the Great Wall Day. The Great Wall of China is the largest man-made architectural project in the world, stretching over 13,171 miles across 15 northern Chinese provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions. Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, this immense system of fortifications winding over mountains and deserts stands as an ultimate masterpiece of human engineering and a primary symbol of Chinese civilization

At 67 I climbed the Great Wall!  We drove for an hour and a half to get to the section of Great Wall toclimb.  There were so many people.  We were shoved and pushed along the way.  It was a mass of people going up the wall.  David said it is worse in some other places.  I lost count of the stairs, but climbed for about an hour and made it to the second guard house on the top of the wall., Then I went back. I had to buy a T Shirt saying I climbed the Great Wall.  David said that the Chinese people are heroes if they even touch a part of the Great Wall.

After we all returned from the wall, we went to the Spirit Way the four-mile approach to the Ming Tombs.  We only had to walk the last mile and a half.  It starts at a large red gate. Thirty-six stone statues of various animals, officials, soldiers, and mythical beasts line the way.

Then we went to the Ming Tombs.  We walked about four stories down into the ground to see where thirteen Ming Emperors were buried with their treasures.  Now the treasures have been moved to a museum but some replicas are there. Dingling Tomb is the only fully excavated imperial burial site among the Ming Tombs. It was very cool and refreshing under ground.

On the way to dinner we drove by the Opera House and the Birds Nest, the swimming venue for the Olympics.    We ate at a dumpling restaurant adjacent to the Olympic Village. Dumplings are Won Tons.