Chapter 105
Beijing
Beijing is the capital of China and the third largest city. The population in 2016 was twenty one million and the name Beijing means northern capital. It has a history of 3,000 years. There are many tourist sites to go to in the city.
The two biggest ones that people of the world are used to hearing about are The Great Wall and The Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square, which is called a pedestrian plaza, can hold one million people and is next to the Forbidden City where the main entrance is. Another tourist site that is popular in Beijing is the Summer Palace.
A Lake and Park in Beijing
There are many lakes and parks in a city the size of Beijing of course. This one was a mile from the motel that I stayed in.
This is the only time that I have ridden a subway in China and I haven't been on any in the US. This is my one and only experience with subways. They are very nice and easy to understand where to get off at. I met two of my Chinese friends when I was in Beijing and one of them wrote down where to get on and off. I was very concerned that if I got off at the wrong stop in a city of twenty one million people and have no idea where I was it wouldn’t be good but the directions were very clear and easy to follow. I got on the subway a few blocks from where I stayed in the hotel and got off where the Summer Palace was and then went back when I was done. It went very well, no problems.
I call this an “extended bus”. I don’t know what they are called. Yes, you can walk through that accordion thing that connects the two parts of the bus. No, if the front part of the bus steps on the gas and leaves quickly it does not stretch out the accordion thing and leave the back part behind and then slingshots to catch the front part. The two cars are both taxis.
Hotel In The Center Of Beijing
This is the hotel that I stayed in for three days during the Dragon Boat Festival, 2011, while I was in Beijing. It was within the Inner Ring Road of Beijing. This is kind of confusing, at least to a foreigner. There are seven Ring Roads and they encircle the city. The Inner Ring Road is in the center of the city and they count outwards to the 7th Ring Road. The 2nd Ring Road is actually the Inner Ring Road. There was some change over the years and somehow the 2nd Ring Road became the Inner Ring Road. The 7th Ring Road that encircles Beijing will be completed in 2017 and is officially known as the "the Great Beijing Outer Ring Road". If anyone is really interested in this, they can Google it.
The Forbidden City is the size of ninety football fields. It is to the north of Tiananmen Square and is rectangular in shape. It is the world's largest palace complex and covers 183 acres (74 hectares). It's surrounded by a moat that is 170 feet wide (52 meters) and a wall that is 33 feet high (10 meters) with a gate on each side. There are more than 8,700 rooms in the Forbidden City. The distance between the south Meridian Gate and the north Gate of Divine Prowess is 1,051 yards (961 meters), while the distance between the east and west gates is 823 yards (753 meters). There are unique and delicately structured towers on each of the four corners of the wall. These afford views over both the palace and the city outside. I wonder what the Emperors would think if they were told it was a museum now?
There is a lot of history about the Great Wall and all kinds of facts about it. If anyone is really interested in this, they can look them up online. There would be way too much to write here.
Even when I was young, I was fascinated by The Great Wall. If someone would have told me that I would walk on The Great Wall someday, I would have thought they were nuts. During my time in China, I had the pleasure of going there twice. Both times were at the section called Badaling which is forty miles Northwest of Beijing. I am going to teach you how to pronounce this before anyone reading this screws it up. I’ve heard it pronounced wrong many times by foreigners. It is pronounced baa daa ling (not bad a ling-no no no-don't be a foreigner).
This section of the Wall is 7.5 miles long. The part that is open to tourists is 2.3 miles. It is 26 feet high and 16.5 feet wide. It is a mountainous area as you will see in the pictures. After my pictures, there will be another part that has a lot of facts about the Great Wall.
“He who has never been to The Great Wall is not a true man”. (I’ve been there twice. I guess that really makes me great.)
A Lake and Park in Beijing
There are many lakes and parks in a city the size of Beijing of course. This one was a mile from the motel that I stayed in.
Notice how long the fishing poles are.
Beijing Buses, Taxis and Subways
There are buses, taxis and subways everywhere. There are regular buses, double decker ones and “extended” buses. I don’t know if “extended” is the correct name but I call it that. I have not ridden on the double decker bus but I have on the extended ones. I had read in the China Daily paper once that there are 60,000 taxis in Beijing.This is the only time that I have ridden a subway in China and I haven't been on any in the US. This is my one and only experience with subways. They are very nice and easy to understand where to get off at. I met two of my Chinese friends when I was in Beijing and one of them wrote down where to get on and off. I was very concerned that if I got off at the wrong stop in a city of twenty one million people and have no idea where I was it wouldn’t be good but the directions were very clear and easy to follow. I got on the subway a few blocks from where I stayed in the hotel and got off where the Summer Palace was and then went back when I was done. It went very well, no problems.
The green and yellow car next to the double-decker bus is a taxi.
I call this an “extended bus”. I don’t know what they are called. Yes, you can walk through that accordion thing that connects the two parts of the bus. No, if the front part of the bus steps on the gas and leaves quickly it does not stretch out the accordion thing and leave the back part behind and then slingshots to catch the front part. The two cars are both taxis. Inside the subway car
Hotel In The Center Of Beijing
This is the hotel that I stayed in for three days during the Dragon Boat Festival, 2011, while I was in Beijing. It was within the Inner Ring Road of Beijing. This is kind of confusing, at least to a foreigner. There are seven Ring Roads and they encircle the city. The Inner Ring Road is in the center of the city and they count outwards to the 7th Ring Road. The 2nd Ring Road is actually the Inner Ring Road. There was some change over the years and somehow the 2nd Ring Road became the Inner Ring Road. The 7th Ring Road that encircles Beijing will be completed in 2017 and is officially known as the "the Great Beijing Outer Ring Road". If anyone is really interested in this, they can Google it.
The Forbidden City
The Forbidden City, also known as the Palace Museum, is in the heart of Beijing and was home to twenty four emperors of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties. The construction started in 1406 and ended in 1420.The Forbidden City is the size of ninety football fields. It is to the north of Tiananmen Square and is rectangular in shape. It is the world's largest palace complex and covers 183 acres (74 hectares). It's surrounded by a moat that is 170 feet wide (52 meters) and a wall that is 33 feet high (10 meters) with a gate on each side. There are more than 8,700 rooms in the Forbidden City. The distance between the south Meridian Gate and the north Gate of Divine Prowess is 1,051 yards (961 meters), while the distance between the east and west gates is 823 yards (753 meters). There are unique and delicately structured towers on each of the four corners of the wall. These afford views over both the palace and the city outside. I wonder what the Emperors would think if they were told it was a museum now?
This is the main entrance to The Forbidden City. We are standing in Tiananmen Square. The picture is of Chairman Mao on the wall. This is the North part of the thirty-three foot wall that surrounds The Forbidden City.
This is the view after walking in from the entrance.
This is the moat around The Forbidden City.
There is a lot of history about the Great Wall and all kinds of facts about it. If anyone is really interested in this, they can look them up online. There would be way too much to write here.
Even when I was young, I was fascinated by The Great Wall. If someone would have told me that I would walk on The Great Wall someday, I would have thought they were nuts. During my time in China, I had the pleasure of going there twice. Both times were at the section called Badaling which is forty miles Northwest of Beijing. I am going to teach you how to pronounce this before anyone reading this screws it up. I’ve heard it pronounced wrong many times by foreigners. It is pronounced baa daa ling (not bad a ling-no no no-don't be a foreigner).
This section of the Wall is 7.5 miles long. The part that is open to tourists is 2.3 miles. It is 26 feet high and 16.5 feet wide. It is a mountainous area as you will see in the pictures. After my pictures, there will be another part that has a lot of facts about the Great Wall.
“He who has never been to The Great Wall is not a true man”. (I’ve been there twice. I guess that really makes me great.)
These first two pictures are at the entrance to the Badaling section of The Great Wall of China. This is the most popular section of The Great Wall for tourists. As the day went on, more and more people came, as you will see. When you look at the pictures of The Great Wall, think what it must have been like to build this through the mountains. A very difficult and monumental task.
My friend and I decided to take the trolley ride back down.
The first time that I went to China with the LLFA (La Crosse Luoyang Friendship Association) delegation and we went to The Great Wall, Mark and I climbed to the top of the Badaling Section and we each paid to get this certificate and our picture and signatures on it.
Fifteen Colossal Facts About The Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is one of the oldest, largest and most celebrated achievements of human ingenuity but there are still a few things you might not have known about China’s ancient landmark.
1. Building The Wall Took More Than 1800 Years
The Great Wall wasn’t the first fortification erected in Chinese territory to protect citizens from foreign invaders. As far back as the 8th century BC, barriers were going up to repel nomadic armies. When Qin Shi Huang seized power of a collection of neighboring principalities in 221 BC and kicked off the Qin Dynasty, he began construction on a 5,000 kilometer wall (3,100 miles) to safeguard his territory. Later, dynasties continued this work and added their own flourishes. While construction began under the Qin Dynasty, the recognizable segments that we think of when we visualize The Great Wall were largely the handiwork of the Ming Dynasty which created these facets between the 14th and 17th centuries AD.
2. The Structure Isn’t One Consistent Wall, But A Collection of Walls
There’s a pervasive misconception that The Great Wall of China is one long uninterrupted structure. In fact, the Wall is more accurately described as a 20,000 kilometer network (12,427 miles) of walls spanning the northern border of Ancient and Imperial Chinese territories.
3. A Surprising Ingredient Can Be Found In The Wall
The Great Wall is largely crafted from unremarkable building materials like earth and stone. More interestingly, glutinous rice, known as “sticky rice”, was incorporated into the mortar recipe thanks to its cohesive properties. Modern studies have indicated that the amylopectin of the rice (the same substance that makes it sticky) helps explain the wall’s strength and endurance.
4. Wall Construction Was A Common Punishment For Chinese Convicts
In a particularly extreme version of modern community service, The Great Wall construction, maintenance and surveillance were regular duties of convicted criminals during the Qin Dynasty. To distinguish outlaw laborers from their civilian colleagues, authorities shaved working convicts’ heads, blackened their faces and bound their limbs in chains. Transgressions ranging from homicide to tax evasion were all punishable with Wall duty. The work was dangerous. Some estimates state that 400,000 workers perished while building the wall.
5. Roosters Were Brought To The Great Wall To Honor The Dead
With so many lives lost during construction, grieving family members feared that the spirits of their loved ones would be forever trapped within the structure that cost them their lives. In an effort to grant deceased laborers spiritual emancipation, a mourner would cross over the Wall with a rooster in tow. This tradition was believed to help guide a soul away from the fortification.
6. An Ancient Poem Predicts Construction Of The Great Wall
The Shijing, a collection of Ancient Chinese poems written between the 11th and 7th centuries BC, predicts proper construction of The Great Wall of China with an entry describing a king’s efforts to fend off military invaders via development of a defensive barrier.
7. The Wall Pays Tribute To Mythical And Historical Figures
Lining The Great Wall are shrines and tributes to figures from Chinese history. Guan Yu, a third-century general who served during the Han dynasty, is honored with temples built on the Wall. Additionally, various points on the Wall pay homage to Tiānwáng, the Four Heavenly Kings of Buddhism
8. The Wall Was Not That Great At Keeping Out Invading Forces
Despite all the effort that went into making The Great Wall the premiere component of China’s military defense system, many of the country’s varied enemies throughout history managed passage across the barrier. Manchurian invasion through the Wall in the 17th century resulted in the fall of the Ming dynasty.
9. Historically, Other Cultures Have Been Fonder Of The Great Wall Than China Has
China’s celebration of The Great Wall as a tourist draw and landmark is a relatively recent phenomenon, having only blossomed in the 20th century as a result of international interest. China first took note of the Wall’s wide appeal in the 19th century, following its engagement in relations with other Asian and European countries. Travelers and merchants returned to their home countries with stories they translated into art and print, creating an enchantment with The Great Wall that helped spark Chinese appreciation for the structure.
10. People Have Been Exaggerating For Centuries About The Wall’s Visibility From Space
Despite numerous accounts to the contrary, The Great Wall of China’s reputation for extraterrestrial visibility stands strong to this day. One good sign that this claim is specious lies in the fact that it dates back two centuries before mankind mastered space travel. English scholar William Stukeley outlined the idea in his Family Memoirs, written in 1754. The myth got a boost from journalist Henry Norman’s 1895 book The Peoples and Politics of the Far East, as well as in a 1932 Ripley’s Believe It or Not! cartoon strip. More reliable sources, astronaut Neil Armstrong among them, assert that the Great Wall is by no means visible from space, much less the moon. At best, the Wall can be spotted from a low orbit, sunlight and weather permitting.
11. Thousands Of Miles Of The Original Great Wall Have Disappeared
Today, the surviving elements of The Great Wall of China stretch to a whopping 13,171 miles. Impressive though the measurement may be, it’s quite a decrease from what is believed to be the Wall’s peak length during the Ming dynasty. More than 1200 miles worth, or approximately one third, of the construction from this period no longer stands.
12. Pieces Of The Great Wall Were Recycled To Build Civilian Homes In The 1960’s and 1970’s
During the 20th century socio-political movement known as Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, the Chinese government did quite a bit of damage to The Great Wall. Mao Zedong and the Red Guard recognized the Wall as little more than a relic whose materials would better serve in the development of contemporaneous housing. Between 1966 and 1976, miles of the Wall were stripped of bricks and used to build civilian homes.
13. Certain Standing Portions Of The Wall Might Vanish Before 2040
Predictions about The Great Wall’s fortitude have grown increasingly dire during the 21st century. Natural weathering and human-imparted erosion may result in the disappearance of certain parts of the Wall before 2040. Portions of the Wall in the Gansu Province are thought to be in particular jeopardy.
14. New Sections Of The Great Wall Of China Are Still Being Discovered
Previously unknown stretches of The Great Wall have been discovered as recently as 2012. In the past decade, archaeologists have located some of the northernmost sections yet to be identified, standing in and on the border of present day Mongolia
15. Great Wall Goes by Many Names Around the World
“The Great Wall of China” is a nickname commonly used by Americans, the United Kingdom, France and Germany while other Western nations prefer a humbler designation: “The Chinese Wall.” Within China, the Wall has known a number of monikers, having been introduced in its inception days as “The 10,000-Li-Long Wall” (as in the first century BC publication Records of the Grand Historian) and “The Long Wall of 10,000 Li” (as in Book of Song, published during the fifth century AD). A Li being about a third of a mile. Over time, the Wall earned some more ostentatious handles including “The Purple Frontier” and “The Earth Dragon.” Ultimately, China christened its man-made wonder with a simple but appropriate name: “The Long Wall.”
The Summer Palace
It is said to be the best preserved imperial garden in the world and the largest of its kind still in existence in China. This is a big area to walk around and look at things. It is suggested that people wear comfortable clothes and shoes. It was built in 1750. It is nine miles Northwest of the center of Beijing. I don't have many pictures these will give you an idea of what it is like.
Little girl eating a popsicle.
Marble Boat
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