Thought I'd put this picture of our excellent singing tour guide, Glenn Wu at the beginning of this post. He was so kind and attentive all day, willing to answer questions and knowledgable. It was interesting how he shared so much about himself with us. He is a son of China's One Child Policy that began in 1978, a policy that had serious repercussions if not adhered to, including losing your job. The policy was abandoned in 2015 but he said that today many young people don't want to get married or have children because it's too expensive. Glenn also shared that often children of the one child generation are called "little sons", are totally spoiled by parents and grandparents, and many times are selfish. He assured us that wasn't the case with him because he'd always had cousins to share with growing up. Another interesting thing he shared was that to avoid government restrictions with the Internet, they will use a vpn, calling it "going over the wall". Google is not allowed. Glenn has been to the U.S. multiple times and spoke excellent English.
So, into the mountains we went after leaving Beijing behind. It's definitely a place where you get out of the crowds in this country of 1.4 billion people.
There are many pieces of the Great Wall throughout China, totaling almost 4,000 miles.. In generations past it was much longer than that. These pictures show parts that are a little closer to Beijing but not as tourist friendly as where we were going.
Interesting stones and shapes in these mountains.
Another part of the wall with flowering cherry trees in the foreground.
Another of the wall's towers, distances between these towers varies from 2,700 yards to 5,500 yards apart depending on which dynasty they were built in.
More cherry trees and wall, they were so lovely.
We stopped for dinner at a Hyatt hotel called Commune by the Great Wall.
We were treated again to another delicious feast.
When we saw this menu we thought we were going to be picking dishes we'd like to eat, but no, we had every dish on the menu.
These are just a few of the things we were served. I found out that I really like lotus root, something I didn't remember having before.
A few of us hustled away from the table when we heard the sun was setting,
and that the sunset was spectacular with the Great Wall in view. My thanks to our friend Fred Kissick for the photo above.
Once we arrived at Badaling it was like a Chinese New Year's celebration! The wall typically isn't open at night but Royal had arranged for several hundred of us to enjoy another once-in-a-lifetime treat with no one else but security, performers and shopkeepers there with us.
No idea of the significance of these dancers but they they pranced and galloped on their "horses"
as their accompanying musicians played drums and flutes.
A few more of the horse dancers.
They were making various shapes with the "dragon" as they danced.
A shot of the dragon's head.
These girls were the next group, they reminded me of a drill team.
There were probably a hundred or so of these ladies in lovely costumes dancing for us.
We learned that they were locals who were putting on this show and celebration for us.
It was all such eye candy with the colorful sights.
The final group of dancers were these women with the boats on their heads. Again, no idea of the significance but it was quite the pageant.
All along the walkway to the wall's gate were these highlighted sections. In some ways it felt like we were at a Disney park with all the lights and colors.
As you can tell, the colors on the walkway walls turned different colors.
One final depiction of the wall with a butterfly light in front of it.
More butterfly lights on the opposite side.
Somewhere I lost Karl before we got to the gate to start up the Great Wall so I just had to take a photo of myself before going in and up.
And there I was, at the Great Wall at Badaling!
Looking upward this was my view. The Great Wall was created to defend against invaders from the north, mainly the Mongol hordes, but it also helped create and protect the Silk Road trade route through China.
I have to say that being there at night was pure magic! And absolutely beautiful!
Still hadn't found Karl.
But when I got to the top and was about to head down, look who I found, at least long enough to get a picture together.
This is one that I call an "artsy" picture.
I know there are lots of photos of basically the same thing, I just found it so lovely.
Reminder signs every once in a while not to put graffiti on this cultural relic.
One thing surprised me on the steep ramp up and down (although not as steep as the DMZ Tunnel #3!), was that it was so much ramp. I remembered when we were here last it was all uneven stairs.
I did take my walking sticks, thinking there would be stairs, and was actually glad that I had them, they were helpful.
Okay, one last wall photo and one last photo a friend took, I'd lost Karl again.
The Great Wall at Badaling is part of a National Park of China, not surprising. Also one last picture of the wall in bright lights.
Oh look, I found Karl again! We wandered out together to get back on the bus for our three hour drive back to port. I think we both dozed at least a little. On the way back we got snacks and some lovely brass bookmarks as a departing gift. I think my favorite part of the ride was Glenn singing "Que Sera Sera" to us just before we parted. All in all it was an absolute incredible day!
No comments:
Post a Comment