Seeing the Great Wall of China was like seeing the ancient buildings of Rome. I felt completely insignificant, yet aware of the tiniest, most distant connection between myself and the people who built it, and in that way was able to imagine what it might have been like to create something that would still exist centuries later. I wondered if there was anything built in the last two centuries that would still be around two thousand years later. As you approach the access area on the highway there are glimpses of the Wall lining the hills, like scales along the back of a dragon that rise and fall, then disappear behind the ridges. I hadn't realized how mountainous the land is north of Beijing, and how extraordinary it is that they brought up the stones for the bricks used to build the wall. You come up to the public area and there are at least fifty buses, all discharging Chinese tourists along with a few Koreans and Indians, who pay their admission and start the steep walk up to the first tower. It's quite windy, and you have to hold on to the railing to keep from slipping on the smooth steps which have been worn down over the years. My tour guide, Jack, seemed very nervous about my safety, and he kept asking me if I was alright as we hiked up to the top of the first ridge. I thought I did pretty well for an old lady, but maybe I looked as if I might tip right over. He said his next tour was taking a group of hikers on a four day Great Wall trek, a tour that involves sleeping in small hotels along the wall and hiking about ten miles each day. Sort of like walking the Appalachian trail only you are on pavement.

There were all types of people on the Wall, old and young, Chinese and foreign. Everyone seemed to be as amazed as I was, in awe of the vastness of it, the view from the top, the sense that it was once a lonely, cold, desolated place for soldiers to keep their post. I'm glad I added on this trip to Beijing- it was well worth the time and expense just to climb up on that wall.



Prior to the Wall excursion we stopped for an exploration of the Forbidden City, the largest surviving palace and home to the Emperor for five centuries. Right in the center of Beijing, it was, of course, swarming with tourists. I wondered how so many Chinese could be there on a Thursday morning, obviously on vacation, many with tour guides, pushing up to the gates and clamoring to get a glimpse of the various court buildings around the grounds. It felt like Disney World during school vacation week. I have seen these tourists everywhere, including at the Olympic grounds, which although empty of athletes still attract thousands of Chinese people. Now they charge admission just to go inside the buildings- the Water Cube, and the Bird's Nest stadium, and I imagine that the people who are coming to see these buildings now are the ones who couldn't afford to get into the Games last year. The Olympic grounds are probably four times the size of Tienanmen square, but there is nothing to do there other than to walk around and try to visualize what it was like last summer. It was sort of sad to see all those buildings, and the vast housing area that was built for the athletes, sitting there unused. There are still many signs around the city heralding the Olympics, including one on the hillside up by the Great Wall, and I wanted to say to the city, Get Over It! The Olympics are done, and they need to move on and find some good way to put all that infrastructure to use for the benefit of the people.

One of the things I have loved are the various signs posted around the historical and tourist sights.
Commit No Nuisance ! I have no idea what they had in mind with this one.


Perilous Hills! This was next to a wall in a garden- a little perilous but I doubt very tempting for climbers...




















A mandatory part of every tour is a visit to some sort of government sponsored store, which is always disguised as an "educational" part of your tour. For example you might be taken to the pearl store, where a young lady opens up a live oyster, demonstrates that there is indeed a pearl inside, then with great smiling and fanfare leads you into the next room where, voila! there is a huge showroom with pearl necklaces and rings galore. Or the silk factory where you get a lecture on the life of the silkworm followed by a sales pitch on the benefits of sleeping under a silk quilt ( which did look pretty cozy). The tour guides are quite apologetic about imposing these side trips to the stores, but it's clear that they are required to do this. I could not get a straight answer from any of them what exactly might be in it for them or their company, nor did I see any evidence that they were getting any credit for bringing us there. As in all stores and restaurants in China there are an overabundance of sales and wait persons, probably five for every one in the U.S. Then there are the markets, where as a Westerner you feel as if you hold the fate of the nation in your hands when you decide whether or not to make a small purchase, as the vendors call out to you to see what they have to sell and bargain ferociously for every dollar they can get from you. Victoria and I found the "copy-shops" , or knock-off market, where we made off with fake Lacoste shirts for the Schultz boys, Hermes ties for Mac and Howard, and two fake Tod's purses. We considered ourselves to be expert bargain shoppers!

Tomorrow we leave mainland China for Hong Kong- the last leg of the trip.