China 2001 - The Great Wall

The Great Wall

Like all tourists to Beijing we drive north out of the city out to the Badaling section of the Great wall, the section closest to the capital. It was built at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty in the 14th century. It is 7.8 meters (25.5') high and 5.8 meters (19') wide at the top on the average.

Construction of the Great Wall started in the 7th century B.C. mapdiscription The vassal states under the Chou Dynasty in the northern parts of the country each built their own walls for defense purposes. After the state of Qin (pronounced "Chin") unified China in 221 B.C., it joined the walls to hold off the invaders from the Tsongnoo tribes in the north and extended them to more than 5,000 kilometers (3100 miles).

The Great Wall was renovated from time to time after the Qin Dynasty. A major renovation started with the founding of the Ming Dynasty in 1368, and took 200 years to complete. The wall we see today is the result of this effort. With a total length of over 6,000 kilometers( 3750 miles), it extends to the Jiayu Pass in Gansu Province in the west and to the mouth of the Yalu River in Liaoning Province in the east.

The Great Wall clearly showed how out of shape we were, but that is evident from the pictures. One of our party was very gutsy. She found out there was another area of the Wall a short distance away that had a cable car and hitched a ride over to there.

		Our first view of the Wall from the bus window probably about five miles from our climbing point. It really does snake along following the ridge line. Difficult from our viewing point to get a picture that shows the extent of the Wall.
		Here's Fritz at the second tower. We climbed to the third tower, but as you can see the walkway gets steeper as you go up.
		Rugged mountainous country.
		Views out to either side of the towers. The blockhouse is outside the wall
		A steep look toward the fourth tower that some of our party managed to make. It is a major accomplishment to climb up there in the time allotted to us. A steep look back down towards the valley.
		A view across the valley at the wall on the opposite side.
		Graffiti isn't as objectionable when you can't read it and it just looks like calligraphy. The great wall is built from sun-dried bricks but has stone caps to protect it from weather and traffic.
		Another view across the valley. Note that all the buildings at the bottom are for tourist accommodations. Also gives you an idea of the steepness and no steps until you reach the really steep part going up to the fourth tower. Probably slippery on a rainy day!
		Some sections of the Great Wall used natural stone formations as part of the foundation.
		It seems that we were as much of a tourist attraction to the Chinese as the Wall was to us! Lots of times they asked us to pose with them for pictures.