I have been to China!

The Great Wall

    I was talking to some friends last week and they said that there is a saying that 'if you haven't been to the great wall, then you haven't truly been to China'. If this saying is true, then I have truly been to China! The great wall is among my favorite places in China. There are many sections of the wall that remain, and some are better than others. We went to one of the better sections that aren't flooded with tourist called Mutianyu.

    What I enjoyed about the wall: it is in the country side away from the bigger city (even though it is still in Beijing), there is so much history both good and bad, and there are great pictures you can take there. If I ever come again I hope I can take the time and spend an entire day or two on the wall and possibly camp overnight in one of the watch towers!

    A quick history of the wall that I learned... The original wall was about 7 kilometers and built of wood and stone and the next emperor after the original builder added seven kilometers. As that decayed it was replace by brick which is still here today, although there are still some wooden parts too. To build the wall every male in ancient China was required to work for three years and if any of them, citizen or slave, died there they were buried, along with the work animals, inside of the wall. That is why the wall is also known as the longest grave in the world.

Humm... Subway at the wall?

    The construction fo the wall makes for some good times. The is because the wall follows the conture of the mountains and because it was build by hand the steps are not at all even. One step can be two inches high and the next one foot high. This means that people with big feet (like me) beware, the steps are not overly wide either and some of them leave half of my size 13 feet hanging off of the step.

    Conclusion, if you ever are able to come to China and can only see one place, go to the Great Wall.

Ming Tombs

     Honestly I wasn't too impressed by the Ming Dynasty tombs, because there wasn't much anything there... Side Note: There are many tombs from the Ming Dyansty, and they're all in the same mountain wen went to the Dingling Tomb. In 1959 when Guo Moruo and Wu Han found the tom, after two unsuccessful digs, they got into the tombs and took what they wanted to pay for the expedition. Also, when Mao did his whole cultural revolution thing many of the artifacts were destroyed, just like many other cultural sites.
    But, the construction of the tomb and what was left was very impressive. The tomb was built to look a bit like the palace, because they thought the emperor deserved to live like an emperor even after death. The initial doorway you go through was made of 'diamond rock' (guides called it that, not sure if it had diamonds in it). The entries to each of the three chambers had a roof over the marble door that was built of marble to look like the forbidden city roofs. It was amazing how high the ceilings were and they were all made with a smooth stone. Before it was looted the chambers were filled with everything the emperor would need in the after life like dishware, tea making things, wardrobe, a throne, and a well as his access to come back to this world; funny thing is that there was a huge three foot tall pile of money beside the well (no, I didn't give any in case you wondered).

    After you leave the tomb, which is in the underworld you must return to the human world. To return to our world you must pass through the double pillared gate. Girls step through right foot first and guys step through the left foot first.