Up, Up, and Away

Northern China maybe be protected by the Great Wall, but it has not stopped the invasion of the tourists. We climbed it in Badaling with several thousand other people. It's a famous section, the first to be restored, and was climbed by Pres. Nixon when he visited China in 1972.
I can't really see why the Ming emperors built it, other than to provide jobs for thousands of their subjects - the surrounding mountains are pretty rugged, and would seem to be enough protection from invaders. It is a lasting legacy, though, and very impressive feat of construction. I can't imagine how many people it took to build it. Unfortunately the haze is still with us, so the beauty of the mountains is hidden from view. I had to recolor/retouch most of the wall pictures because they look so faded.


This is part of our group.

After our climb we did a bit of shopping, then went for lunch.
I am not sure where the restaurant was, but it is famous for it's Peking duck.

There was a tremendous quantity of food, all very tasty. The vegetable fritters dipped in a curry-type powder were wonderful. That's Dr. Who (Hu) with the chopsticks. He's a professor at NAEA, and our main "minder." We learned at lunch he's a member of the Communist Party - the first I've met.


The NAEA plan was the Wall, lunch, and return to the hotel. After much discussion we convinced them we really needed to go see one of the Ming tombs that dot the area.

We went to the Ding Ling Tomb, and it was a wonderful place - peaceful, not nearly as crowded. It was also planned with Harmony and Balance in mind. The buildings are impressive, but the artifacts have been removed to a museum.
The umbrella I am holding in the picture has it's own story. I bought it for sunshade, and to give to Lizzy, and got scammed out of a $100 yuan note (about $14 US) in the process. I paid with the 100, they wanted smaller bills so I said give me back my hundred, and she gave me a counterfeit note. I knew as soon I walked away, and went and found our minders -Dr. Who and Bob - and took them back to the stand where I bought it. As soon as the lady saw them with me, she knew she was sunk, and when confronted (I have no idea what they said to her) she pulled out her wad of money and gave me a RMB 100. I feel pretty stupid, but that's how she makes a living, and she was good at it, since tourists don't really know what RMB money looks like.
So we're safe back at the hotel, and it's time for bed.
One last note - our hotel has western-style toilets in the rooms, but everything else in Beijing is squatty potties, and you can't flush tp anywhere, it goes in the wastebasket next to the toilet.
This is a fancy squatty potty in the hotel lobby area. It's kinda like camping out.


Pictures for the day (click to go to the website):